Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee during Sunday’s loss in Boston and will miss at least six weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter).
According to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Clippers were “relieved” that Jones’ injury wasn’t more serious.
The injury occurred late in the second quarter when Jaylen Brown lost his dribble and dove to retrieve the ball just as Jones was reaching for it (YouTube link). The incidental contact resulted in Jones’ knee bending inward at an odd angle, with Jones immediately grabbing at his knee in pain. The high-flying swingman had to be helped off the court and was unable to put any weight on his right leg.
Whiles Jones’ stats are fairly modest — he was averaging 10.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks on .540/.341/.786 shooting in the 12 games (26.0 minutes per contest) leading up to the injury — his absence will certainly be felt by the Clippers. The former dunk contest winner is an offensive lob and transition threat and one of the team’s best defenders.
Third-year wing Jordan Miller also exited Sunday’s game with an injury — he aggravated the left hamstring strain that caused him to miss the first three weeks of the season, Murray notes (Twitter links). It’s an unfortunate setback for the 25-year-old, who scored a career-high 22 points in his season debut on Wednesday.
Miller, who is on a two-way deal with Los Angeles, has been ruled out of Monday’s back-to-back in Philadelphia with left hamstring soreness, but isn’t expected to miss extended time, according to the team (Twitter link via Murray).
Rookie guard/forward Kobe Sanders, another two-way player, will get his first career start on Monday, tweets Murray.
Star forward Kawhi Leonard, who is dealing with right ankle and foot sprains, has resumed on-court work and is nearing his return, though it’s unclear if he’ll resume playing during L.A.’s ongoing road trip, which wraps up next Tuesday at the Lakers, Murray adds.