Clippers' Eric Gordon suffers ankle injury

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The rookie guard and first-round draft pick could miss up to a week of practice. Marcus Camby misses morning practice with flu-like symptoms.

Clippers rookie guard Eric Gordon's ankle injury, suffered on the first day of training camp on Tuesday, could keep him out of practice anywhere from five days to a week.

Which leads to the question: Is Gordon injury-prone? He also suffered a hamstring injury limiting his summer-league action to two games. Or is he simply the victim of a couple of flukes?

Coach Mike Dunleavy picked the latter.

"He's had a bit of bad luck," Dunleavy said today after the morning workout. "You can [have] a great ankle but if you step on someone's foot and turn it . . . "

That's what happened during the Clippers' night scrimmage on Tuesday. Gordon, the Clippers' first-round draft pick in June, sprained his right ankle after stepping on a player's foot when he was going for a defensive rebound. He was scheduled to be evaluated by a doctor later today.

Missing a week or so at this stage of camp isn't a huge setback.

"It's early enough, so there's plenty of time," Dunleavy said. "Basically, as long as he stays and watches everything we're doing. Conditioning wise, he's in good shape.

"He looked good yesterday playing. It's really not that big a deal. It's really just more you're not going to be out there for the timing of plays. You can't get lost in the shuffle out there. As long as he's here and picks it up mentally, he'll get the physical part pretty easily."

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Also missing the morning practice was Marcus Camby, who is suffering from flu-like symptoms. Dunleavy said Camby was not feeling well on Tuesday night, either.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com


 
 
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