Two franchises and their fanbases briefly held their collective breath for Paul Pierce on Monday night.

After a driving layup during his Los Angeles Clippers’ game against his his long time team, the Boston Celtics at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Paul landed awkwardly and went to the floor in serious pain.

A Celtics icon and key piece for the playoff bound Clippers, Paul collided with Boston big man Jared Sullinger on his drive to the hoop and, when he hit the floor, torqued his leg in a way that sent him to the ground clutching his knee as he immediately began to writhe in pain. The play, which happened about two minutes before halftime, was a rare cause for concern on both sides. The Truth is not only a vital member of the Los Angeles franchise, for whom he plays a starting role, he also remains one of the most beloved players in Celtics history and, even as an opponent, Boston fans show him love.

When he went down, Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who was alongside Paul as his coach in Boston as well, admitted he feared the worst had happened to his veteran forward, at the worst possible time.

“For a second, when he grabbed his knee, I definitely thought, ‘Oh boy,’” coach Doc Rivers said. “And then I’m thinking, ‘Against the Celtics . . . ‘ I was thinking, ‘No.’”

However, the injury wasn’t as bad as originally feared. The former Celtics star was helped off the ground by his Los Angeles teammates and made his way to the locker room under his own power. Shortly thereafter, the Clippers announced he had suffered a right ankle sprain and a right knee contusion. He did not return to the game as LA cruised to a 114-90 route of his former team, but the encouraging update on his status put his teammates at ease afterward.

“Paul is a warrior and a guy who has been through a lot,” said point guard Chris Paul. “We’re glad he’s OK.”

Despite the positive news about his long-term health, the ankle sprain might take some to return from and Rivers admitted after the contest that “he is going to be out for a little bit.”

The Clippers, who recently clinched a playoff spot, have nine games remaining in their regular season slate before the postseason begins in a few weeks. The currently sit firmly entrenched in the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference, 5.5 games ahead of the fifth place Memphis Grizzlies and 5.5 games behind the third place Oklahoma City Thunder. Those standings make it all but certain that, barring a collapse by one of those teams, Los Angeles will have home court in a first round playoff series with Memphis.

For that reason, it was likely Paul would be getting some games off for R&R in the final nine games of the season. Now he’ll be working his way back from injury, hopeful that he can return in time to help his team make a deep playoff run.

SERVING AS A SPARKPLUG

Before Paul was ruled out the remainder of the game, due to the injuries to his leg, he provided major energy for the Clippers to win their third straight game.

Boston Celtics v Los Angeles Clippers

In just over 11 minutes of game action on Monday, No. 34 tallied eight points on 4-of-6 shooting against his former team and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal while helping stake his current team to a significant halftime advantage over his former team.

The Truth drew the start for L.A., his 36th of the season and fifth straight, and he registered a bucket and an assist in the opening frame as the Clippers established an early lead. But it wasn’t until the second stanza that No. 34 took over the game in the vintage fashion Boston is all too familiar with.

Moments after returning to the game midway through the second quarter, Paul made his impact felt when he grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and dished ahead to Jamal Crawford, who buried a long trey in transition to give Los Angeles a double digit lead, 44-33. The Truth then added to that advantage with a jumper at the midway point of the frame to make it a 13-point game. Those two plays were part of a 10-0 Clippers run, which pushed the lead to 16, 49-33.

Paul tacked on some more with four minutes left in the half when he knocked down another jumper to pump the lead back up to 17. A mini Boston run followed, trimming the edge back down to 11 with less than three minutes left in the half. But Pierce and Chris Paul answered with back-to-back buckets to, the second of those, which came from The Truth off an assist from Cp3, was the play that ended No. 34’s night prematurely. Still the Clips kept rolling. At halftime they were in front by 17 and in the second half they pushed the advantage to as much as 25 on the way to the win.

NEXT UP

After sweeping a three-game homestand to bolster their playoff position, the Clippers hit the road this week for a Wednesday-Thursday back-to-back against two teams that present vastly different challenges.

The second game of the back-to-back takes L.A. to Oklahoma City, where they’ll face a Thunder squad that sits right above them in the Western Conference standings. The game might be the Clippers’ last chance to significantly chip away at the gap between themselves and OKC for third and fourth. That contest is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. PT tipoff and will be aired nationally on TNT.

But first the Clippers stop in Minnesota to take on a Timberwolves team that is headlined by Paul’s former teammate and good friend Kevin Garnett. However, like Paul, Garnett is expected to miss the game with a leg injury. The future Hall-of-Famer hasn’t played since January 23.

 

With Garnett out, the Timberwolves feature one of the youngest lineups in the league and they’ve been struggling to find their way in a competitive Western Conference. However they’ve won three of their last four and will be looking for their second straight victory after defeating the Phoenix Suns, 121-116, on Monday. The young Minnesota team is fronted by 2014 No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins (20.7 points per game) and Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Karl-Anthony Towns (10.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks).

Wednesday’s game will be the last of the season between the veteran Clippers and youthful T-Wolves. L.A. leads the season series, 2-1, but the most recent meeting went the way of the Wolves, who topped the Clips 108-102 on Feb. 3 in Los Angeles. Paul played just under 17 minutes in the loss and tallied just three points, but registered a season-high five assists. He’ll miss this final meeting of the year, but the deep Clippers will still be expecting to handle their younger foes.

Tipoff of that game at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday night is set for 5 p.m. PT. and the game can be seen on Prime Ticket.

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS – 3/29

1. y – Golden State Warriors (66-7)

2. y – San Antonio Spurs (62-12) 4.5 GB

3. y – Oklahoma City Thunder (52-22) 14.5 GB

4. x – Los Angeles Clippers (46-27) 20 GB

5. Memphis Grizzlies (41-33) 25.5 GB

6. Portland Trail Blazers (39-36) 28 GB

7. Utah Jazz (37-37) 29.5 GB

8. Houston Rockets (36-38) 30.5 GB

y – Clinched division

x – Clinched playoff berth

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