Austin Rivers Injury: Updates on Clippers Guard's Face and Return

Joe PantornoApr 29, 2016

Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers suffered a facial injury in the first quarter of Friday night's Game 6 matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Continue for updates.

Rivers Returns Despite Big Hit

Friday, April 29

After going up for a rebound, Rivers was elbowed in the face by Portland's Al-Farouq Aminu and immediately hit the floor. Cameras caught a glimpse of the area around his eye that was badly bruised and bleeding profusely, via Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com (warning: footage includes graphic content):

According to ESPN.com's Arash Markazi, Rivers received stitches for two cuts and returned with 5:03 to go in the second quarter.

A bench player for the majority of his NBA career, Rivers has been Chris Paul's primary backup since Doc Rivers, his father and the Clippers' head coach and president of basketball operations, acquired him from the Boston Celtics in 2015.

But when Paul broke his hand during Game 4 on Monday night, Rivers was thrust into the starting role to keep the team's backcourt afloat.

In the first four games of the series, Rivers averaged just 18.7 minutes and seven points per game. In Game 5, Rivers played 37 minutes, scoring 13 points, including a monster dunk. But it wasn't enough, as the Blazers took a 3-2 series lead with a 108-98 win:

With Rivers off the floor, the Clippers looked to 38-year-old Pablo Prigioni and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford to play the point.

Prigioni isn't much of a threat, having averaged 2.5 points and 2.2 assists per game this season, while Crawford brings a dangerous scoring threat to the position.

But since they lost Paul and forward Blake Griffin (quad), the Clippers had been relying heavily on DeAndre Jordan, Jeff Green and Crawford to keep their season alive. Rivers' return at least ensured Los Angeles had another option.

However, against a Blazers squad teeming with confidence after three straight wins in the series, it wasn't enough to force a Game 7.

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.