Los Angeles Clippers’ NBA Finals Odds Dip After Chris Paul Injury

The Los Angeles Clippers probably weren’t realistic threats to claim the 2016-17 NBA Finals. After a hot start to the season, the Clippers seemed to hit a wall and not too long after, lost star power forward Blake Griffin to knee injury.

Now they’re really not going to win it all.

Per reports, star point guard Chris Paul will be joining Griffin on the sidelines due to a thumb injury he sustained in a game on January 16th. Initial tests ruled out a break in the thumb, but an MRI revealed significant ligament damage.

Specifically, Paul suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb that required surgery. The Clippers acted fast in what was deemed successful surgery, but will still have to prepare to play without their best player for the next 6-8 weeks:

SOURCE: Chris Paul has a torn ligament in his left thumb and will require surgery. Expected to miss 6-8 weeks

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 18, 2023

Big Blow

Losing Chris Paul for any amount of time is a big blow for the Clippers, who fortunately are still in a solid spot at 29-14. Paul helped the Clippers win their seventh consecutive game in the last contest he played in, which kept them in second place in the Pacific Division, behind only the Golden State Warriors.

While the Clippers are in a great spot due to their recent winning streak and solid start, overall, losing Paul for up to two whole months could prove to be tragic.

As bad as it looks, however, the Clippers would have to experience quite the free fall to be at risk of dropping out of the playoffs, altogether. As things stand, the Clips still boast the fourth best record in the Western Conference and have 12 more wins than the final playoff team (currently the Denver Nuggets).

Next Man Up

The silver lining could be three-fold for the Clippers. For one, they’re in a great spot despite enduring their second huge injury. They have a great record in the toughest conference in the NBA and even if they struggle ahead of CP3’s return, they still have the makings of a playoff team.

Secondly, the Clippers do have terrific guard depth with Raymond Felton, Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford all highly capable to both run the point and provide scoring from the perimeter. The loss of Chris Paul also calls for more out of star sharpshooter J.J. Redick and center DeAndre Jordan.

Lastly, Blake Griffin will be back long before the Clippers start thinking about Chris Paul’s return. Griffin (knee) is still possibly two weeks away from thinking about his return, but he should be back on the court by the end of February at the latest and would then once again be a huge piece to their puzzle at both ends:

Doc said it’ll be about a week or two without Blake, which would put him toward the middle/end of that initial timeline

— Rowan Kavner (@RowanKavner) January 18, 2023

Much like Chris Paul kept the Clippers afloat last year when Griffin went down with two different injuries, it looks like the star big man could be in position to return the favor.

NBA Finals Odds

The best news of all, of course, is that this injury isn’t season-ending. Chris Paul will miss about two months (maybe less) and will be back before the NBA playoffs start up. He also won’t be returning to a team that has dropped out of playoff contention (most likely), as the Clippers are already in a great spot, have solid depth to lean on and will be getting Blake Griffin back within the next two weeks.

All of this can’t help L.A.’s current NBA Finals odds (+1400 at Bovada), but NBA bettors should consider two things: those odds are sure to dip and by the time the playoffs roll around, the Clippers should be close to 100% across the board.

That wasn’t at all the case last year, when an ailing Clippers team shut their stars down before bowing out against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs. This came a year after downing the San Antonio Spurs and blowing a 3-1 lead in round two to the Houston Rockets.

The point? The Clippers were slowly looking like a sneaky title threat early in the year and it’s not crazy to think they could work their way back to that once they’re back at full strength.

The 2016-17 NBA Finals probably come down to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, but if not, the Clippers are a viable bet to target. Thanks to their latest big injury, they’ll at least offer a nice payout based on their regressing odds.