LOS ANGELES — The “biggest thing” the Clippers learned after an MRI exam on Paul George’s injured right elbow, coach Tyronn Lue said Friday, is that their star wing feels better eight weeks after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his shooting elbow.
The haziest thing, however, remains whether George will play another second this season.
George’s program of rest was extended a second time by the team Friday after his MRI, with no set timetable for his return.
“He feels better, he’s making progress, but he’s gonna need more time,” Lue said. Asked if there was still a chance to see George again this season, Lue said he was “not sure.”
With seven weeks and 20 games left in the regular season after Friday’s matchup against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, the Clippers, in eighth place in the Western Conference and seemingly bound for the play-in tournament, don’t have much time left before the postseason begins. George is one of three significant Clippers whose potential returns this season remains undetermined and under wraps, with Kawhi Leonard (knee) now seven months into his rehab from surgery to repair a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament and Norm Powell not quite two weeks removed from fracturing a bone in his left foot.
George was averaging 24.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals when he tore the elbow ligament on Dec. 22. Friday’s game against the Lakers will be the 30th consecutive he has missed. At the time of the injury the team said he would be re-evaluated in three to four weeks.
A torn ulnar collateral ligament is a relatively rare injury for basketball players who, unlike baseball players, generally do not require surgery to fix it, though whether George could need it is undetermined. Clippers forward Nicolas Batum suffered the same injury while playing in Charlotte and did not require surgery.
“Every competitor wants to play, you know, and so I’m bummed out, too” to note have a clearer path forward for George’s recovery, Lue said. “But like I said, hope is stronger than fear and like I said, the most important thing is that he’s feeling better, so that’s what we’re focused on and now we want to focus on the game.”
