Paul George leaves the Clippers’ loss late due to an apparent leg injury

LOS ANGELES — Paul George, the All-Star guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, left Tuesday night’s 101-100 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder late in the fourth quarter with an apparent right leg injury.
George rode a trolley out of Crypto.com Arena with his right leg extended. The Clippers provided no further information on George, who nodded as he was wheeled towards the arena’s loading dock.
Clippers coach Ty Lue stated that he did not see George immediately following the game and was waiting to hear more about his star guard’s status.

“[George] is still being evaluated,” Lue said. “But I did see [the injury replay]. I didn’t even realise it looked like that until [an assistant coach] showed me, so I had no idea [what happened].”

When George went up for a rebound, his right knee appeared to collide with Thunder guard Luguentz Dort’s knee, resulting in an awkward landing. George collapsed to the floor and remained there for several minutes.

With 4:38 left in the game, George needed assistance walking to the locker room.
George had a spectacular 360-degree spinning baseline dunk earlier in the third quarter. Before leaving the game, he had 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

“I haven’t talked to him yet,” said Clippers teammate Kawhi Leonard. “And I missed the game. I assumed he was hit in the face and was knocked out for a while.
“We’ll see,” Leonard responded when asked how the Clippers will adjust if George is sidelined for an extended period of time. “We have a group of guys who still want to win and who enjoy playing basketball, so we’ll see what happens.”

During a U.S. national team intrasquad scrimmage in August 2014, George suffered a gruesome tibia-fibula fracture to his lower right leg when his leg buckled at the base of a basket stanchion.

Any serious injury to George would be devastating for the Clippers, who had been playing some of their best basketball before losing to the Thunder.

With nine regular-season games remaining, the Clippers (38-35) are currently fifth in the Western Conference.
“We don’t know what’s going on,” said forward Nic Batum. “As a result, we will have to wait. I’ve never seen him. I haven’t said anything yet. I’m hoping it’s nothing serious and that he returns soon.

“We have players, and Norm [Powell], who has been out with a left shoulder injury, is coming back pretty soon,” Batum said of the Clippers guard. “We obviously miss our teammate, but we have a good coach and a good team. Of course, PG is crucial for us. If we have to go without him for a while, we just have to go out there and win some games.”