Clippers Rule Three Stars Out vs Suns
The Los Angeles Clippers will be severely undermanned against the Phoenix Suns.
PHOENIX -- The Los Angeles Clippers have released their injury report for Wednesday's matchup against the Phoenix Suns, and they'll be down quite the amount of star power as the two teams head back to L.A. for the second night of a back-to-back:
OUT
Paul George - Left Knee Soreness
James Harden - Right Foot Inflammation
Kawhi Leonard - Right Knee Inflammation
Joshua Primo - Left Ankle Sprain
QUESTIONABLE
Russell Westbrook - Left Hand Contusion
Ivica Zubac - Left Ankle Inflammation
The Suns have not yet released their injury report for tonight.
George led Los Angeles in scoring last night with 23 points but is now out with left knee soreness. He played 39 minutes on Tuesday.
Leonard will miss his sixth straight game with knee inflammation, though Clippers coach Ty Lue hopes to have him back by the end of the regular season.
Harden was a late addition to Tuesday's injury report and was questionable with his foot injury before being ruled out ahead of game time.
Westbrook - who started in his place - notched a triple-double in the Clippers victory last night but is now ruled questionable along with Zubac, who scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Even without their stars, the Clippers managed to embarrass the Suns right out of the gates after taking a commanding 35-4 lead in the first quarter and never looking back.
“It was great. I just thought our intent was perfect. I thought our will to win was great and we came out with a defensive mindset and were really physical. Our physicality was there and offensively we were clicking. This is a hell of a win against a really good team," Lue told reporters after the victory. Phoenix shot just 2-19 to start the night and finished with ten points at the end of the first quarter.
"Frank (Vogel) has done a good job of getting his team healthy, getting his team to play the right way. And to come in here with teams playing so well and without James (Harden) and Kawhi (Leonard), it’s a huge win for us. So, we’re playing for that fourth seed and with how our guys laying it out on the line like they did tonight it shows a lot about our character and about our team. But like I told them we don’t have two of our best players but no matter how you win, you just win.
"So, Frank did a good job adjusting going small on us in the second half and we wasn’t scoring and it was giving us problems. I probably should’ve gotten (Ivica) Zubac off the floor a little bit earlier but I was being stubborn, and the game got closer than you’d like. But overall, just a total team win. I thought all of our guys were great and it was a huge win for us.”
Opening tip tonight is slated for 7:30 PM Arizona time.
