Los Angeles Times

Teodosic’s return is delayed

- By Broderick Turner broderick.turner@latimes.com Twitter: @BA_Turner

After Milos Teodosic practiced with the Clippers’ NBA developmen­t league team Monday, the Clippers were gearing up for his return from the plantar fascia injury to his left foot that has kept the point guard out since he went down in the second game of the season.

But after Teodosic practiced with the Clippers on Tuesday, coach Doc Rivers seemed unsure when he would return.

“He’s close, I’ll say that,” Rivers said. “Watching him yesterday, I just didn’t think he was ready. But he’s close. It’s a tough one.”

Rivers didn’t say what changed between the time Teodosic practiced with the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario on Monday and the practice with L.A. on Tuesday.

“It’s not my call,” Rivers said. “I do give an opinion if I don’t think they are ready. I just didn’t feel like [he was ready]. But I think he’s really close.”

Crawford returns

The pain of being traded away by the Clippers last summer resonated for a while for Jamal Crawford, leaving him in “shock” and “disbelief.”

Crawford had spent five years playing for the Clippers, his longest tenure he had spent with any team during his 17-year career.

But he was part of the threeteam deal that let the Clippers acquire Danilo Gallinari from Denver in a sign-and-trade transactio­n and send Crawford to Atlanta.

Crawford secured a buyout from the Hawks and signed as a free agent with Minnesota.

“It was tough,” said Crawford, who Wednesday played in his first game at Staples Center since the trade. “It was shocking because I was just here on that Friday trying to help get Blake [Griffin] back and then [Tuesday] I’m traded. So that part was definitely shocking. It was tough. I was in shock for a while, to be honest with you. For a few days, I was just in disbelief, like, ‘This is really happening.’ But after that, you just have to look at the big picture.”

The Clippers showed a video of Crawford’s time with the team, ending it with a “Thank You Jamal.”

“It really become like a second home for me,” Crawford said. “I think Seattle, everybody knows is my love for home and that’s home, but this became like a second home. You know the NBA is a business and you know things can happen, but I guess to really fall in love with something you have to be vulnerable. I fell in love with the city and the fans here so I was vulnerable. So I guess the shock of the trade hurt that much more because I really gave everything, like, OK, ‘I’m here. This is it.’ I signed two contracts here so that part was shocking.”

 ?? Jay Metzger Getty Images ?? MILOS TEODOSIC, dribbling against Toronto’s Norman Powell during a preseason game in Hawaii, is still trying to overcome a plantar fascia injury, setting back his return to the Clippers.
Jay Metzger Getty Images MILOS TEODOSIC, dribbling against Toronto’s Norman Powell during a preseason game in Hawaii, is still trying to overcome a plantar fascia injury, setting back his return to the Clippers.

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