The Clippers later reported Paul fractured the third metacarpal in his right hand.
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With 6:07 left in the third quarter, Paul suffered the injury (Watch Video Above) while defending Portland guard Gerald Henderson before walking off the court. While the status of Paul’s return is unknown at the time, even one game in the playoffs without their star point guard would be absolutely devastating for the Clippers and their fan base.
Walker finished with 34 points as he rebounded from a four-of-19 shooting performance in a game three victory by hitting 13-of-28 from the field and six-of-seven from the free-throw line. Holding a 13 point lead with less than 2 minutes left, and Chris Paul and Blake Griffin out of the game, the Blazers closed out the game and prepared for a very different Game 5. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Paul will be evaluated Tuesday, “but it obviously doesn’t look very good for him”.
Clippers starting power forward Blake Griffin also sat out the fourth quarter with what the team called a sore left quad.
Saturday saw Los Angeles fall in their first road game for their first loss of the playoffs. According to a person with knowledge of Paul’s situation, the Clippers do not expect Paul to be able to return in the postseason.
Aminu had 30 points for Trail Blazers against the LA Clippers and also added 10 rebounds.
Life still won’t be easy for Golden State as it goes forward in the immediate future without the MVP, but considering the alternatives, a matchup against a weakened Clippers team or a talented but inexperienced Blazers squad just delivered the Warriors a needed boost to their shot at a repeat. The first game I didn’t get any attempts up.
“The start he got off to, I think it lifted everybody up because he didn’t shoot the ball well in the first two games and the fact that he got us going just encouraged everybody like, ‘We’re going to be OK, ‘” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
Entering Game Four, the Blazers had shot just 25.9% from deep in the series, down from their regular-season mark of 37%.
The full extent of the fracture is not yet known, although ESPN’s J.A. Adande has reported that a source tells him the expectation is that Paul will miss the remainder of the playoffs.
“So I just wanted to come out and leave it out there, be aggressive on the offensive end…”
While Lillard (32 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists) led the way as usual for Portland, it was McCollum who stepped his game up to keep the Trail Blazers alive in this series. “I think that would be a foolish thing to do”. Both series now are tied at two games apiece.
On Tim Duncan’s 40th birthday, Paul was reminding us that he is still one of the league’s premiere point guards.
In Indianapolis, French center Ian Mahinmi scored 22 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out five assists to help the Indiana Pacers to a 100-83 series-tying win over Toronto.
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“It changes things a lot – more so for them”, Lillard said.
