Clippers’ Bradley Beal to miss time with hip injury

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Los Angeles Clippers guard Bradley Beal was ruled out of Monday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks and is expected to miss several games with a left hip injury, coach Tyronn Lue said.

Beal, who had been listed as questionable on the injury report, is scheduled to undergo imaging to determine the severity of the problem.

Beal, 32, had a career-low 8.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in six games this season, his first in Los Angeles. In 14 NBA seasons, he averaged 21.4 points with 4.3 assists in 807 games (758 starts) for the Washington Wizards (2012-23), the Phoenix Suns (2023-25) and the Clippers.

The injury reportedly occurred during Thursday’s 115-102 loss at Phoenix as Beal took charge. He played in Saturday’s home loss to the Suns and scored 12 points to tie a season high in 20 minutes.

To replace Beal in the starting lineup Monday, Lue was joined by forward John Collins as guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.

“We struggled with rebounding basketball and statistically (Collins) has been a very good career rebounder,” Lue said. “Just put him next to (Ivica Zubac) so you can bounce the ball. … We have to be bigger. We were small with (Beal).”