April 26--It was about the worst news the Clippers could have envisioned. The team announced that Blake Griffin will miss the rest of the playoffs and Chris Paul is out indefinitely after having surgery Tuesday to repair a fracture in his right hand that he injured Monday night during the Clippers' playoff loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Griffin aggravated his partially torn left quadriceps tendon in the game Monday, though an MRI on Tuesday morning revealed no further structural damage and the star power forward is expected to be ready for the start of next season.
The Clippers will play Game 5 on Wednesday night in Staples Center in a series that is tied at two games apiece.
"We still have homecourt, no one's won a road game yet in the series and so we have to find a way of winning tomorrow and that's as far as we can think right now," Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday afternoon. "We have won games before without key guys and I think we can win games in the future without key guys."
Who will start Wednesday in place of Paul and Griffin? "We've had 10 different lineups on the board today. Most likely, it will be a pretty big lineup but we're not sure yet," Rivers said. "We can't look at the future other than tomorrow. That's all we've got to do."
The Clippers' game notes list probable starters Wednesday as Jeff Green at power forward and Austin Rivers at point guard, in addition to the regulars.
Clippers guard J.J. Redick said: "We have three games to win two and we have to figure out a way to do it."
Paul broke the third metacarpal in his right hand midway through the third quarter and had the injury surgically repaired by Dr. Steve Shin in Los Angeles Tuesday morning.
Dr. Alidad Ghiassi, assistant professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at Keck Medicine of USC, said third metacarpal fractures rarely require surgery to heal, but in some cases, a procedure could accelerate the recovery timetable.
"Sometimes we offer an operation to secure the fractured bone with plates and screws with the idea that you are stabilizing this bone, allowing him to do early therapy, range-of-motion hand exercises to get him back to his playing status a little bit faster," said Ghiassi, who has not examined Paul.
Ghiassi said Paul's recovery timetable would depend on several factors. If the fracture were located in the middle of the bone it would tend to heal more quickly than if it were closer to the joint. If there is any associated joint dislocation, that could delay Paul's recovery.
Wrapping the finger and continuing to play was not a realistic option, Ghiassi said.
"Very unlikely," he said, "because that thing hurts and if it you want it to heal properly, you've got to let it rest."
Twitter: @latbbolch
