The Los Angeles Clippers received another bad break over the weekend by losing yet another offensive threat to try and solidify their position in the play-in tournament, currently residing at the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
The newest Clippers acquisition, Norman Powell, suffered a fractured medial sesamoid bone in his left foot, according to the team announcement on Sunday. Even though Powell’s injury won’t require surgery, there is no timetable for his return at this time.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported the news.
The injury is a fractured medial sesamoid bone in his left foot, which the team says is non-surgical at the moment. The Clippers acquired Powell a week ago from the Portland Trail Blazers. https://t.co/suqIYAIRvM
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 13, 2022
The injury couldn’t have happened at a worse time for the Clippers or Powell. After coming over from the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal that netted Robert Covington, Norman was on a hot streak averaging 21.0 points and 4.0 assists per game in three contests that included a 28-point explosion in his debut a week ago.
📊 28 PTS | 56.3% FG | 50.0% 3FG @npowell2404 with the strong debut. pic.twitter.com/lgrIGtkMkH
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 7, 2022
Powell suffered his left foot injury on Thursday during the Clippers’ 112-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He sat out Saturday’s rematch that the Clippers won 99-97 with what the team initially called turf toe.
Before being ruled out of the game, Powell stated that his foot was ‘feeling better’ per ESPN.
“It’s doing a lot better,” Powell said at the team’s morning shootaround. “Better than it was after the game. Better than it was yesterday. Feeling better, walking better. Felt a little pain in it. All from the last game. Just going to see how it feels and go from there.”
With Kawhi Leonard presumably gone for the season and Paul George’s status still in the air, Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue will have to find offense from somewhere on the roster to fill in Powell’s production.
The Clippers have 24 games left in the season with a record of 26-31, currently a game and a half ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
