Los Angeles Clippers star forward Paul George exited Tuesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on a cart late in the fourth quarter after suffering an apparent leg injury, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.
The Clippers did not immediately offer an update on George, who rode off on the cart and exited the arena with his right leg extended.
“[George is] still being evaluated right now,” Clippers head coach Ty Lue said. “But I did see [the replay of the injury]. I didn’t even know it looked like that until [an assistant coach] just showed me, so I didn’t even know [what happened].”
“I haven’t spoken to him yet,” Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said following the game. “And I didn’t see the play. I thought he just got hit in the face at the time and stayed down for a while.”
“We’ll see,” Leonard responded when asked how much time George may miss. “We got a group of guys that still want to win, that like to play basketball, so we’ll see what happens.”
“We don’t know what is going on yet,” Clippers veteran forward Nic Batum said. “So, we are going to have to wait. I have not seen him. I have no word yet. I hope it’s nothing serious and that he’s back soon.
“We have players and Norm [Powell] is coming back pretty soon,” Batum said. “We obviously miss our teammate, [but] we still got a good coach, good team. Of course, PG is a huge key for us. If we have to go through some time without him, we just have to go out there and win some games.”
The Clippers (38-35) are currently fifth in the Western Conference with nine regular-season games remaining.
Given George’s history of injuries, such as the gruesome tibia-fibula fracture George suffered to his lower right leg when his leg buckled at the base of a basket stanchion during a U.S. national team intra-squad scrimmage back in August 2014, the Clippers are certainly waiting in suspense.
