First Posted: 2/8/2015
OKLAHOMA CITY — Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin needs surgery to remove a staph infection in his right elbow, and coach Doc Rivers said Sunday it “could be awhile” before he returns.
The operation is set for today in Los Angeles, and Griffin will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.
Rivers said before Sunday’s game against the Thunder that he doesn’t know when Griffin will return. pencer Hawes started in Griffin’s place.
Griffin is averaging 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 50.1 percent. He was third in the league’s MVP balloting last year.
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will take Griffin’s roster spot in next Sunday’s All-Star game in New York. West coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will pick who replaces Griffin in the starting lineup.
Griffin missed what would have been his first NBA season because of a knee injury after the Clippers drafted him with the top pick in the 2009 draft. Since making his debut in 2010, he had sat out only four regular-season games.
The Clippers came into Sunday in sixth place in the deep Western Conference at 33-18, six games ahead of ninth-place New Orleans.
Jenner phone records, texts could be issue in crash probe
MALIBU, Calif. — Investigators will likely ask Olympic gold medalist and Kardashian family patriarch Bruce Jenner to surrender his cellphone to determine if he was texting when he was behind the wheel of an SUV involved in a highway crash in Malibu that killed a woman, authorities said Sunday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Philip Brooks said that all the drivers involved in Saturday’s multi-vehicle accident will likely be asked to voluntarily provide their phones so investigators can check call and text data.
Investigators could also request search warrants, if necessary.
The information gleaned from those records could help inform prosecutors, if they were to consider charges against the drivers involved.
However, Brooks said it is difficult to determine if a driver was texting at the exact time of a collision. Investigators will look at signs of driver behavior such as multiple texts that span a period of time leading up to, or including, the crash, Brooks said.
The sheriff’s department has custody of all the vehicles and will be inspecting them to ensure they’re mechanically sound or whether a defect prevented somebody from stopping in time.
Investigators are trying to determine who or what triggered the crash on Pacific Coast Highway. One woman died in the crash, and seven others were injured.
Paul fined $25,000 for criticizing female official
NEW YORK — Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul has been fined $25,000 for criticizing a female official after a loss at Cleveland.
The NBA announced the fine on Saturday. Paul was given a technical by rookie referee Lauren Holtkamp on Thursday night in the third quarter of a 105-94 loss to the Cavaliers, a game that featured five technicals against the Clippers.
After the game, Paul called the technical on an inbounds play “ridiculous” and said “this might not be for her.”
Holtkamp is one of two female officials in the NBA.
Paul appeared to say something to her as he waited for an inbound pass after a Cavaliers’ free throw. Paul said Friday that he was only upset with the call.
The penalty is in line with others the NBA has levied for criticism of officials.
