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• Clippers' All-Star Paul George to miss at least two weeks with sprained right knee

  The Los Angeles Clippers will likely begin the playoffs without Paul George, that is if they can make it without him.

  The Clippers announced on Wednesday that George suffered a sprained right knee Tuesday and will be reevaluated in two-to-three weeks.

  The regular season ends in two-and-a-half weeks and the eight-time All-Star is expected to miss Los Angeles’ final nine games.

  With a 38-35 record, the Clippers enter play on Wednesday in fifth place in the Western Conference, but also just one-and-a-half games out of seventh place, which would put them in the play-in tournament.

  They are 6-11 without George this season with losses in five of the last seven games he has missed, which does not include Tuesday’s 101-100 defeat to the seventh-placed Oklahoma City Thunder.

  George was injured with 4:38 remaining when his knee collided with Luguentz Dort's knee in the air while attempting a rebound and he crumbled to the floor.

  He stayed down on the court for a while until being helped off the court, unable to put weight on his leg.

  Prior to Tuesday’s defeat, Los Angeles had won five of six with George leading the charge, averaging 28.3 points – 4.5 higher than his season average.

  The 32-year-old is averaging 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 56 games this season and now the Clippers will have to figure out how to win without their leading scorer to get back to the playoffs after losing in the play-in tournament last season.

• Zion Williamson cleared for Pelicans return but will miss two more weeks

  Zion Williamson has been cleared to return to on-court activities but will need at least two weeks to get up to speed.

  The New Orleans Pelicans announced Williamson's return to fitness on Wednesday – a significant boost for a team whose season has gone off the rails.

  At the time of Williamson's hamstring strain in January, the Pels were third in the Western Conference, just a game behind the first-placed Denver Nuggets.

  Since then, however, New Orleans are 12-23, slipping to 12th place on the outside even of the play-in race.

  Williamson has not been the only Pelican to miss time with injury, but Brandon Ingram's return has not improved the team's fortunes.

  With the Pels set to re-evaluate Williamson in two weeks' time, he is on course to miss a minimum of seven more games.

  New Orleans only have 10 games remaining.

  A return in the final week of the regular season could be just the boost the Pels need, but they could also very realistically be out of postseason contention by then.

  This has been another season wrecked by injury for Williamson, the former first overall pick.

  He played only 24 games in his rookie season and 61 the following year before missing the entire 2021-22 campaign with a foot fracture.

  The Pels still handed Williamson a five-year rookie extension worth up to $231million, with $193m guaranteed.

  Although he continued to miss games on occasion, the initial signs were encouraging as Williamson averaged 26.0 points through 29 games.

  But the hamstring injury derailed his and the Pels' season, with time running out to set it back on track.

• Towns hoping to 'pick up where I left off' as 'very complete' NBA star

  Karl-Anthony Towns hopes to return the "very complete" player he was before his injury as he prepares to make his Minnesota Timberwolves comeback.

  The forward suffered a serious calf strain on November 28 and has missed the last four months.

  However, Towns was upgraded to questionable ahead of Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks and is planning to play.

  The 27-year-old was averaging 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and a career-high 5.3 assists per game before his lay-off and felt he was in peak form.

  With the T-Wolves ninth in the Western Conference but only a game behind the Golden State Warriors in sixth, Minnesota will need Towns back at that level.

  "I'm super excited to get back out on the court and help my team, because these next nine games are super important," he told ESPN.

  "I'm just trying to pick up where I left off. I was telling my dad: right before I got hurt, I felt the most complete as a player in my career.

  "From the defensive end, from the offensive end, from a mental aspect, leadership aspect, I felt very complete."

  Towns is confident he can immediately make an impact, highlighting the specific areas in which he believes he can provide the T-Wolves a boost.

  "I don't feel like I lost the step. I actually gained steps, because I've been able to learn from a different aspect, in a way that I've never looked from just sitting on the sideline," he added.

  "I think anytime I step on the court, I can make an impact. But specifically we've been struggling a lot right now with free throws, and I've always been a really good free throw shooter.

  "I think that, shooting-wise, it's going to be great to add that kind of three-point component to us."