Apr 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers players stand for the National Anthem before a game against the Houston Rockets at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Key Player Ruled Out in Clippers vs Rockets

Originally posted on Los Angeles Clippers on SI
By Liam Willerup | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 12:20 AM ET

The Los Angeles Clippers were one of four teams that entered Wednesday with identical records in the Western Conference, as all of those teams are fighting to be inside the top-six seeds in the West and not the play-in tournament. Looking to secure that win, they played host to the second-seeded Houston Rockets.

While Houston has one of the deeper teams in the NBA, they entered Wednesday's contest missing a significant amount of players, five of their six leading scorers, to be specific. As for the Clippers, they boasted a relatively healthy rotation besides Norman Powell. However, a mid-game injury has them down one of their key rotational pieces.

Nicolas Batum is OUT for the remainder of Clippers-Rockets with right groin soreness.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 10, 2025

Dealing with right groin soreness, Clippers veteran forward Nicolas Batum has been ruled out for the remainder of the contest against Houston. He exits the game with an impressive 15 points in only nine minutes of action.

In his 17th season in the NBA, Batum has definitely been one thing for the Clippers this season: available. He's now made 78 appearances for Los Angeles this year, averaging 3.9 points per game while shooting 42.4% from beyond the arc. While not the star role player he used to be, he made a difference in under 10 minutes of action on Wednesday.

Perhaps Batum's biggest value will come playoff time, bringing veteran leadership to the Clippers with 69 career playoff appearances. Batum's status will be one to monitor for their next game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Clippers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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