Clippers’ Patrick Beverley to miss tilt against Kings because of a wrist injury

Clippers guard Patrick Beverley will not play Tuesday against Sacramento while recovering from a sprained wrist he suffered in Saturday’s loss to Utah.

An X-ray taken during the loss to the Jazz showed no break and the 6-foot-1 guard returned to the court in the fourth quarter. Yet discomfort led the fixture of the team’s closing lineup to check out a final time with eight minutes to play.

“He clearly felt like he couldn’t even grab the ball, so that’s not a good sign,� coach Doc Rivers said Saturday.

Except for Beverley, no other Clipper is expected to miss Tuesday’s road game. An illness kept center Montrezl Harrell from playing Saturday, the first game he had missed since Nov. 22, 2017, but he traveled Monday with the team to Sacramento. The “bug� going around the locker room also affected Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Rivers said. Speaking at an event in his honor Sunday in his hometown of Palmdale, George said he still felt under the weather, but he, too, made the trip to Sacramento.

Beverley’s injury removes a fiery leader and one of the team’s best defenders from the lineup. The Clippers are 2-7 when Beverley sits since the start of the 2018-19 season, including 2-3 this season.

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Dec. 29, 2019

Beverley has started all 29 games he has played this season while posting his best defensive rating since his rookie season, in 2013, and averaging a career-best 6.0 rebounds. Among all guards, only seven players — all at least 6-5 — have averaged more defensive rebounding chances this season than Beverley’s 8.1.

“He said he was ‘good,’ so, luckily it wasn’t anything too crazy, I don’t think,� guard Landry Shamet said Saturday. “Obviously when you see a guy go down like that and go to the tunnel, then you’re concerned.�

The Clippers arrived holding a 13-game winning streak on the road against the Kings, the NBA’s longest current road winning streak.

UP NEXT

AT SACRAMENTO

When: 2 p.m. , Tuesday

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 570

Update: Less than six months after joining Sacramento on a three-year contract worth $40 million, center Dewayne Dedmon wants out. The 30-year-old from Lancaster told the Sacramento Bee on Sunday: “I would like to be traded. I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.� Coming off a season in which he started 52 games for Atlanta and averaged 25 minutes per game, Dedmon has started four times in 23 appearances this season and is averaging 13.6 minutes. The Kings (12-21) have lost seven consecutive games and in that winless span rank second-worst in the league in pace. Sacramento’s New Year’s resolution might be getting to the free-throw line more often. Coach Luke Walton’s team has averaged the second-fewest attempts from the line this season (18.7). Contrast that with the Clippers (23-11), who lead the league with 20.9 free throws made per game.