LOS ANGELES – The LA Clippers dodged a bullet this past weekend when the MRI on guard Austin Rivers and his Achilles came back negative for any tears. Rivers, who couldn't put any weight on the right foot and left the arena on crutches the night he suffered the injury, was seen walking fine and without a limp two days later after the Clippers game against the Charlotte Hornets. He also explained what the issue with his Achilles was and expressed his intent to play on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“They (the training staff) pulled my foot and it just popped to where I was able to just start walking again,” said Rivers. “It was just like, ‘there.' It was crazy. And then they were working on it and they redid it again to where I couldn't walk again.”
“It just felt like a sharp knife. It felt like a knife was just jabbed at my Achilles.”
Unfortunately, Rivers did not participate in morning shootaround and was not able to play. Head coach Doc Rivers broke the news in his pre-game press conference, explaining what's holding his son out of the game.
“Austin's out again,” said Rivers. “We thought he was close, but the fact that he's not playing says probably not so we'll see. I know he was working out the last couple days and had some discomfort and so they're going to re-evaulate his foot again. They're going to send him to another guy and see whats going on. We have to wait and see another opinion.”
The Clippers though Rivers was in the clear, but now it looks like he's seek a second opinion on his Achilles injury to figure out what the issue is and when he can make a return to the court.
Rivers originally suffered the injury on Friday night when the Clippers took on the Los Angeles Lakers. While defending Brandon Ingram, Rivers appeared to collide with teammate Sam Dekker when Dekker came to help on an Ingram drive. Rivers lost his footing a bit when stepping on Dekker's foot, lost his balance, and fell to the floor with his right foot making an awkward move that appeared to extend Rivers' Achilles.
Rivers is averaging career-highs this season with 15.8 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.5 three-pointers per game on 42 percent shooting from the field and 40.5 percent from beyond the arc. As a result of him being one of the two major scoring options alongside Lou Williams for the last month, the Clippers have had to reconfigure lineups to get scoring and defense on the court.
At this time, the Clippers won't know or have an update on Rivers until they get they second (and maybe even a third) opinion on the right Achilles.
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