Game 4 Painful for L.A.

The injury bug stung the Los Angeles Clippers twice, hitting both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in a matter of minutes, and now Paul Pierce and Co. will have to adjust for the final three games of their series with the Portland Trail Blazers.

CP3 broke the third metacarpal in his right hand while going for a steal in the third quarter of Monday night’s 98-84 Game 4 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. With the setback, the best-of-seven series is now even at 2-2.

“Chris is taking this very hard,” coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s worked all year to get back to the playoffs, and for this to happen to him – he’s a very emotional guy.”

Just a few minutes after L.A. lost its point guard, it lost its power forward. Griffin aggravated a left quadricep injury after landing awkwardly on a layup attempt. He made a reappearance in the fourth quarter, but lasted less than two minutes before exiting for good.

“I could feel it,” Griffin said. “Hopefully in the next 24-48 hours you turn a corner and feel better, so I’m not really concentrating on how it felt tonight. That’s kind of expected after you tweak something.”

There is no official word, but the series hand injury could leave CP3 sidelined for the rest of the playoffs, while Rivers said Griffin is 50-50 for Game 5 on Wednesday, saying that it doesn’t look good for either L.A. star.

In Game 4, The Truth was held scoreless through 11 minutes of playing time, while four Clippers reached double figures in the scoring column.

Griffin (17 points, seven rebounds) and CP3 (16 points, three steals) were productive contributors before exiting with injuries in the third quarter, while Jeff Green (17 points, five rebounds) and Jamal Crawford (12 points, four steals) were beneficial off the bench.

The Clippers struggled on both ends of the floor, shooting 36 percent from the field and 28 percent (7-of-25) from three, while the Blazers shot 41 and 42 (13-of-31) percent, respectively. Just like in Game 3, the biggest difference came down to defense and the glass. Portland out-rebounded L.A., 58-42, on its way to scoring 15 second-chance points.

Al-Farouq Aminu paced Portland with 30 points and 10 rebounds, CJ McCollum added 19 points, and three other Blazers finished with 12 points apiece.

L.A. never led as Portland jumped out to a 12-4 lead, which Maurice Harkless capped with a dunk in transition. CP3 kept L.A. afloat early, connecting on every attempt for the first six field goals and assisting on the seventh to get within five, 20-15.

The Clippers trailed just four going into the third quarter, 47-43, and just two going into the fourth, 66-64. But without their top two scorers, they never turned the corner in the final period, as the Blazers led by as many as 14.