This is really bad, folks. Paul George was just ruled out of the rest of the Clippers-Celtics game due to a left hamstring strain. Now, in a vacuum that injury wouldn’t be too bad. However, this is the 3rd time George will miss time with a hamstring injury, and as hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky, it seems clear that he’s just not quite fully right.
Of course, if there had to be a time for an injury, right before the All Star Break is the “best” time there is. George will have nine days off until the Clippers next week, plenty of time to get some much-needed rest. However, time is slowly running out. After the All Star Break, there’s only two months to the playoffs, and the team needs to get chemistry and momentum sooner or later. Every game George misses is another crucial opportunity missed to get that little bit better execution that comes with game reps and practice.
More worryingly, of course, is the ever-growing fear that George won’t be healthy much of the rest of the season. Sometimes hamstring injuries can linger until truly extended rest and rehab (which, in this case, would be over the summer), and with so many outbreaks of this injury this season, that might be the case with this one. If George isn’t healthy for the postseason, the Clippers will have a very, very difficult time winning a championship. The Clippers without George are very good, maybe even great. But they aren’t special, and they need to special in a year when there are so many extremely good teams in the NBA.
All we can do now at this point is wait on what the Clippers (and George) have to say, and hope that his injury will heal up completely some time soon.
