The Clippers vs Suns series was supposed to be one of the better matchups in the first round this year. But after an injury to Paul George, the path to a Phoenix victory has gotten a whole lot easier.
After spraining his knee towards the end of the regular season, PG was on the fence about coming back and there was hope he could return at some point in the first round. Sadly, however, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced that PG would most likely miss the entire first round.
“All-Star forward Paul George is likely to miss the LA Clippers’ entire opening-round Western Conference playoff series against the Phoenix Suns because of his sprained right knee, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Sunday. George has been progressing on the rehabilitation from the injury he suffered on March 21, but the Clippers are preparing to be without him for the series, which begins Sunday in Phoenix, sources said.”
ESPN story on Clippers star Paul George likely missing entirety of opening-round series vs. the Suns: https://t.co/Fw1Fl2osMg
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 16, 2023
PG was named an All-Star this year for his two-way game and his role in leading the Clippers to the 5th seed in the West. In 56 games, he averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists on 45% shooting.
While the Clippers certainly have enough fire-power on paper to survive without George, it’s going to be tough to get past the new-look Suns without him.
Is The NBA Schedule A Problem For The Clips?
While nobody can blame PG for his freak injury, it seems the Clippers star has put some blame on the NBA itself for giving his team an unfavorable schedule over the past few years.
“It’s bulls***. The league been f**king us up for a while,” George said. “It’s tough for us and I want to say the past couple of years where we’ve just had a tough schedule of playing the most games going into All-Star break. We’ve just had years of tough schedules. With all of it, I think if we can just look at it like let’s just f***ing take care of business, we’ll get the most rest out of this. Get ready, hopefully, see where I’m at, maybe I’m good?”
Obviously, George could return if the Clippers somehow advance in the postseason but there’s a good chance he’s played his last game this season.
Either way, on Sunday, we’ll get to see for ourselves how this short-handed Clippers team stacks up against KD and the crew.
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