Serge Ibaka to miss rest of the playoffs due to back surgery

Serge Ibaka (Augustas Didzgalvis, Wikimedia Commons)

Los Angeles Clippers power forward Serge Ibaka of Brazzaville, Congo is having to miss the remainder of the 2021 National Basketball Association playoffs due to a back injury. According to TSN, Ibaka’s injury required surgery, which he had on Thursday.

The loss of Ibaka is a huge blow to a Clippers squad that currently trails two games to none to the Utah Jazz in one of two Western Conference semifinals. Ibaka was instrumental two years ago in leading the Toronto Raptors to their only championship in franchise history before signing with the Clippers in the offseason. 

Ibaka was in the lineup for the Clippers in their first two postseason games against the Dallas Mavericks. While playing in more of a reserve role, Ibaka only had 10 points in 18 minutes and 22 seconds worth of action. He also had four defensive rebounds, two assists, one steal, and three blocks.

There is no doubt that the Clippers are missing a big-time presence in their own zone who can prevent the Jazz’s superstar Donovan Mitchell from scoring and can counter the defensive skillset of Rudy Gobert. Mitchell has had 82 points now in their first two playoff games against the Clippers. In game one, Los Angeles had a great start, but could not sustain their first-half success, and lost 112-109. In game two, the Clippers fell behind by 21 points at the 2:33 mark of the third quarter, and even though they took the lead with 6:37 left in the game, Utah went on an 18-10 run to close out the game, and won 117-111.

In the regular season, Ibaka averaged 11.1 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. With the loss of Ibaka, more responsibility will be headed towards Ivica Zubac. However, Zubac does not have the playoff experience that Ibaka has. In their careers, Zubac has played only 26 playoff games, while Ibaka has played in 146 playoff games.

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