Clippers dealt significant injury blow heading into must-win Game 3

The LA Clippers will be without Serge Ibaka in a crucial, must-win Game 3 on Friday.

Facing an absurd amount of pressure entering Friday night’s Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks, the LA Clippers will not have Serge Ibaka readily available to play in the high-stakes contest.

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reports that the Clippers big man is expected to miss Game 3 because of an ongoing back issue. The Clippers lost the first two games of this best-of-seven series at home to Dallas already. If Los Angeles goes down 0-3 to the Mavericks, there is next to no chance this team has any shot of rattling off four in a row to advance to the next round.

Should the Clippers fail to get out of the first round, owner Steve Ballmer has to blow this thing up.

LA will be without Serge Ibaka in Game 3 on Friday night

No, the Clippers are not going to fire head coach Tyronn Lue if they cannot get past the Mavericks. That is because they already fired their head coach from the previous year in Doc Rivers due to their latest playoff failure. All the while, Rivers’ Philadelphia 76ers had the best record in the Eastern Conference this year and are one of the teams with a decent shot to win the NBA Finals.

Simply put, if the Clips do not advance past the Mavericks and get to the Western Conference semifinals, the dynamic duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard is no more. One of them has to go. Leonard is the likelier of the two to stay, but the Clippers’ brass may have no choice but to trade George this offseason. Maybe George for CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers could work?

With Ibaka not playing on Friday night, the Clippers have even less of a chance to win Game 3.