Clippers Injury: Paul Pierce exits Celtics win with knee injury

The Los Angeles Clippers lose Paul Pierce to a knee & ankle injury.

Injuries keep making their way through the Clippers’ frontcourt and this time the victim is Paul Pierce, who exited tonight’s win over his former Boston Celtics club behind a knee and ankle injury.

Prior to injury, Pierce was 4-of-6 from the field for 8 points, adding on 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in 11 minutes of play.

The good news is the injury was once created through contact, knee-to-knee contact to be exact — we know the damages of non-contact, lower body injuries and at Pierce’s age, one could be force an immediate end to the future Hall of Famer’s playing career.

Drawing assumptions from the post-game conference, the injuries aren’t serious. Pierce was not unable to return tonight (nor did he need to) and may miss the next stretch of games, but he’ll be available come playoff time, which, well, is interesting.

Anyone with functioning eyes could tell you Pierce has been less than ideal with in his first season with the Clippers, failing to offset horrendous defense and rebounding with familiar shooting numbers. Functioning as the backup power forward, Pierce is shooting below 40 percent from the field (34 percent) for the first time in his NBA career and hitting only 30 percent of three-pointers launched, his lowest percentage since the 2003-04 season.

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Getting to the point, Pierce’s presence has done more harm than good and being out forces Doc Rivers to do what should’ve been dome months ago: give Pierce’s minutes to someone else. Any option available is a plus compared to Pierce. All notable forwards on the roster (Mbah a Moute, Johnson, Green) have outperformed the veteran and where they can’t replicate the theoretical shooting Pierce provides, they’re able to make up for it in different areas, even if done mediocrely.

Until Blake Griffin returns, Jeff Green will likely step into Pierce’s starting role, and with Blake back in the lineup, Green slides into Pierce’s role as backup power forward, alternating with Wesley Johnson for minutes at the position.

If Pierce misses the remainder of the regular season, it’ll be interesting to see if he gradually returns to rotation player in the playoffs. The gap in talent between Memphis, the expected no.5 seed heading into the playoffs, could be key to getting Pierce back in rhythm prior to the team’s facing of the Golden State Warriors in the conference semi’s. It makes sense if you believe Doc is unable to keep himself from going full-on Doc Rivers in the playoffs.

Next: Clippers on pace to make history with their shooting

But until that point comes, we’ll keep an eye out for any significant news regarding Pierce’s injury. Hopefully a speedy recovery is in the forward’s future.