NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers Star Paul George Targeting Semi-Finals for Return

The Los Angeles Clippers' playoff hopes have taken a serious hit. According to the Athletic's Law Murray, eight-time All-Star Paul George won't return until his injured knee is close to 100% and is not expected to be healthy enough to play until the semi-finals of the NBA playoffs.

Clippers star Paul George remains out to begin postseason, won’t return until knee ‘close to 100 percent’ 📰 @TheAthletic https://t.co/x1CcqfyreP
— Law Murray ❎️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 14, 2023

Unfortunately for the Clippers, the semi-finals are anything but guaranteed. They face the Phoenix Suns in the first round, who have yet to lose a game with Kevin Durant on the court: they've won all eight of his starts, and he has averaged 26.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game with a .570 field goal percentage since donning a Suns jersey.

George has been unavailable since injuring his knee in a March 21st loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He finished the season as the Clippers' leading scorer (23.8 points per game). The Clippers finished 6-3 over their final nine games of the season thanks to solid play from Kawhi Leonard (24.4 points per game, .522 field goal percentage) and Russell Westbrook (19.2 points per game, .520 field goal percentage).

Barring a herculean postseason from Leonard, who famously carried the Toronto Raptors to a title in 2019, the Clippers may be headed for yet another underwhelming close to their season. Since dramatically landing Leonard and George ahead of the 2019-20 season, the Clippers have failed to get past the Conference Finals. With Leonard and George a year older and their twin histories of injuries mounting, the Clippers' championship window could slam shut very, very soon.

The Suns host the Clippers for the first game of their best-of-seven series at 8:00 PM ET on Sunday night.