Paul George enters health and safety protocols, out against Pelicans

Updated Apr 15, 2022 2:49 pm ET

Paul George has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss the LA Clippers’ play-in game against New Orleans on Friday night, according to a team spokesman.

Dennis Rogers said George is unavailable for the elimination game at Crypto.com Arena.

"We feel really bad for Paul and hope for a speedy recovery," Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, said in confirming George’s status for the elimination game.

George’s absence is a huge blow to the Clippers’ hopes of making the playoffs. They must win to earn the No. 8 seed and a first-round matchup with the Phoenix Suns.

George scored 34 points in a 109-104 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday in the first play-in game. That defeat cost the Clippers the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup with Memphis.

Besides George, the Clippers were already without Kawhi Leonard, who hasn’t played all season while rehabbing from an ACL tear.

"This is another challenge for our group," Frank said. "The group has dealt with challenges all year. We’ve had guys in and out of the lineup, we’ve dealt with overcoming large deficits and yet this group has always responded."

The silver lining for the Clippers is that they have experience playing without George this season, as he battled an elbow injury throughout the season. 

PG-13 played in just 31 of 82 regular-season games this season, and the Clippers went 18-13 in those games. Without George, LA put together a 24-27 record, just a notch below .500. 

He missed 43 straight games between Dec. 26 and March 25.

"I really think like all the things that we’re going to be asking of our guys [Friday], they’ve all done throughout the year," Frank said. "This isn’t going to be a brand-new experience for any of our guys."

George returned to the lineup near the end of the season and played five of the last seven games of the regular season. In those games, he averaged 22.6 points, 6.8 assists and 5.6 assists. The Clippers went 4-1 in those contests.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.