Clippers Injury: Austin Rivers out 4 to 6 weeks

First Blake Griffin, now Austin Rivers: the Clippers guard will miss 4 to 6 weeks with a hand injury

Hand down, man down.

For the second time in the last month, the Clippers are losing a key rotation player to a hand injury — except this time a team trainers face wasn’t the cause — as Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports backup guard Austin Rivers is expected to miss the next four to six weeks recovering from a broken left hand.

Clippers' Austin Rivers has been diagnosed with broken left hand, sources say. Likely out 4-6 weeks.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) February 7, 2016

Soon after Windhorst’s Twitter reveal, Austin Rivers took to his own account to confirm the news:

"One step back…two steps forward. I'll use this short time to get better and come back stronger. See y'all soon"

Without confirmation from the team on the injury, Rivers’ injury seems to have occurred in the team’s recent win over the Orlando Magic, where Austin’s injured himself on a layup prior to his ejection, in which it was then reported as a left hand contusion on the team website.

At four to six weeks, Rivers has been placed on the Blake Griffin timeline, but unlike his peer, the likelihood of a speedier recovery is in Austin’s favor as the damage done to his off-hand, opposite of Blake who fractured the shooting hand.

Without Rivers, the Clippers’ depth takes a huge hit at point guard. While Austin sits with the hand injury, the third-string guard Pablo Prigioni is currently dealing with a facial injury that forced himself to miss Los Angeles’ last game, leaving Chris Paul as the only healthy point guard on the roster. If it remains that way, one of three things may happen:

Chris Paul is overtaxed making up for the lack of depth on the roster
Jamal Crawford and Lance Stephenson see an increased role as primary ball handler on the second unit
Doc Rivers signs a veteran point guard on a 10-day contract to make up for the injury-related losses.

The third option would require the Clippers moving on from Jeff Ayres, who’s played few minutes since signing consecutive 10-day contracts with the team. The first will be wholly dependent on how the bench operates in moments Paul takes to the bench.

The second is where the intrigue lies. Without Rivers, and presumably when Prigioni gets back, this allows the insertion of Lance into the lineup, either pitting him into Rivers’ two-guard spot or sliding in at small forward where Crawford stood aside Prigs-Rivers. Either rotational change makes sense, and it gives the front office an additional look at Lance in extended minutes before the February 19 trade deadline — best case, they keep Lance; worst case, he’s traded for an able body that Rivers will give playing time to.

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As of late, Lance has performed well when called upon, scoring 8.6 points on 82.6% in his last five games. Prime Stephenson never shot the rock at that clip of efficiency so you can expect a dip as he increases usage but he’s proving Doc Rivers wrong in the regard that even at his worse, Lance can help this team; all he’s missing is the opportunity to do so.

A brief aside, if Stephenson doesn’t get Rivers’ call, this could be a rare opportunity for C.J. Wilcox to make his imprint on the team. No one really knows how good Wilcox is or isn’t but his ability to stretch the floor and move without the ball could help this bench in the half court.

Jumping back to Rivers and his injury, like Griffin, the Clippers have to be hopeful he can bounce back heading into the 2016 playoffs. Overrated he is, definitely by his father, but Austin has proven to be a useful component to this Clippers team reaching their ceiling, through his ability to attack the basket (which few guards on this team do) and defend on the perimeter.

Next: Clippers need to pursue a trade for Darrell Arthur

Appearing in 46 games this season, Rivers is averaging 8.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

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