The Los Angeles Clippers have opened 7-3, are coming off a victory over the defending champion Toronto Raptors and now have something else to buoy their spirits: Paul George reportedly will make his debut with the team by Thursday.
The six-time All-Star forward, acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder in a July trade, has missed the opening 10 games of the season while recovering from two offseason shoulder surgeries.
The Clippers play back-to-back road games Wednesday at Houston and Thursday at New Orleans. The game against the Pelicans is believed to be the day George is targeting for his return, but the contest against the Rockets has not been ruled out entirely.
George, 29, was acquired by the Clippers along with Kawhi Leonard to form a title-contending roster. Two of their three losses this season were played without Leonard as part of his load-management strategy.
--Injuries continue to plague the Golden State Warriors, who will be without guard Damion Lee for at least two weeks due to a broken bone in his hand.
The team said that Lee suffered a non-displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand during Monday's 122-108 loss to the Utah Jazz. He will be evaluated in two weeks.
He had played in all 11 games this season off the Warriors' bench, averaging 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 21.9 minutes per game. The short-handed Warriors are already without star guards Stephen Curry (hand) and Klay Thompson (knee).
--Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon will have arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday and be sidelined for about six weeks, coach Mike D'Antoni announced.
Gordon had an MRI on Tuesday morning after scoring 17 points in the Rockets' 122-116 road victory on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Gordon, 30, is averaging just 10.9 points in 29.4 minutes in nine games (two starts) this season. Coming off three straight seasons with 200-plus 3-pointers, he is shooting just 28.4 percent from long range and has more turnovers (12) than assists (seven).
--The Brooklyn Nets and CEO David Levy "mutually agreed to part ways," the team announced.
Levy was on the job less than two months, joining the Nets in mid-September after Joseph Tsai's purchase of the team was approved by the NBA's board of governors.
Oliver Weisberg, CEO of J Tsai Sports, was named interim CEO of the Nets and Barclays (LON:BARC) Center.
--Field Level Media