Bradley’s return still up in the air
OAKLAND — Clippers guard Avery Bradley remained in Los Angeles on Thursday getting treatment on a sports hernia injury that has bothered him for most of the season.
Bradley is not expected to join the Clippers for Friday night’s game at the Phoenix Suns.
The Clippers are unsure when Bradley will return.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Bradley will get another medical opinion on what the team has called an “athletic pubalgia,” which is defined as a strain or tear of any soft tissue in the lower abdomen or groin area.
“We are concerned,” Rivers said. “We’ve got to go through the right stuff and make sure he’s in a good place with his health. I think we’re going to send him to a doctor and let him check and see.”
Rivers said the Clippers would really miss Bradley’s defensive presence against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, two AllStars, are widely considered the best guard combo in the NBA.
“Yeah, that’s a big blow,” Rivers said about not having Bradley. “Having Avery on Steph and Austin [Rivers] on Klay, you couldn’t ask for [more], from our standpoint, that’s a pretty good matchup for us. But now you take Avery out of the mix, that’s a lot of pressure on us. There’s no doubt about that.”
Bradley, averaging 9.2 points in six games with the Clippers, is in the final year of his deal that will pay him $8 million this season. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Two-way players running out of time
Tyrone Wallace , who is on a two-way contract with the Clippers, has used up 22 of his allotted 25 days to play in the NBA with the team.
Wallace could conceivably use his last three days to play at Phoenix on Friday night, at Denver on Tuesday night and at Staples Center against Houston on Wednesday night.
Wallace, whose deal allows him to spend time with the Clippers’ development league team, the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, could be signed by the Clippers for the rest of the season if they desire to do so.
Guard C.J. Williams, another player on a two-way deal with the Clippers, has been out with a right ankle injury. The Clippers also will consider signing him to a deal for the rest of the season.
“Hopefully we can get something resolved pretty soon,” Doc Rivers said. “We just got to figure out what we’re going to do. We may be able to sign one.”
TONIGHT
AT PHOENIX When: 6 PST. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 570, 1330. Update: The Suns are tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the worst record in the NBA at 18-41. The Suns have lost seven consecutive games, nine of their last 10. They give up the most points in the league, 112.8 per game.