Russell Westbrook Suffers Injury in Clippers vs. Wizards
The LA Clippers announced during Friday night's game vs. the Washington Wizards that Russell Westbrook has suffered a fractured left hand. Westbrook played 10 first half minutes vs. Washington, but was ruled out for the remainder of the game at halftime, and will presumably be out several weeks.
Westbrook has played 78-straight games since joining the Clippers, having yet to miss one. That streak will likely come to an end with this diagnoses. One of the most durable players in the NBA, playing in every game is something Westbrook takes pride in, which makes an injury like this even more disappointing.
Clippers head coach Ty Lue will likely reveal what he knows about the injury when he addresses the media postgame, but for now it seems likely that Westbrook will be sidelined for several weeks. The Clippers will have to make a decision on who will get Westbrook's backup point guard minutes, with young guard Bones Hyland likely being the next man up in LA's rotation. Hyland took the backup point guard minutes in the second half of Friday night's game.
This is a big blow for the Clippers, who have often relied on Westbrook's scoring, energy, playmaking, and defense to help turn around games. Now without their backup point guard, the Clippers will have to generate that production in other ways.
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