John Collins gets an injury update ahead of the matchup against the Pacers

The LA Clippers will be without John Collins on Wednesday night when they host Indiana Pacers. It will be the second straight game that Collins will be sidelined with a sprained neck after injuring his neck against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night.

Collins originally suffered the injury in the Clippers’ second game after the All-Star break against the Los Angeles Lakers. At the end of the first half, John Collins went up to nail the alley attemptbut Jackson Hayes undercut him, resulting in a dangerous landing in which Collins hit his head on the hardwood and immediately began bleeding.

A dazed Collins returned to the Clippers locker room with a towel pressed to his left eyebrow. He would miss the rest of that game and the Clippers’ next two games against the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves with a head laceration and neck soreness.

In total, Collins had eight days between games to recover from the tear and neck pain. The Clippers forward returned to the lineup Sunday against the Pelicans, played 25 minutes earlier taking another hit to the left side of the head/neck, going down from the pain and immediately grabbing his right arm.

John Collins finished that game with 15 points, seven rebounds, one assist and two steals before suffering a neck injury and returning to the Clippers locker room.

These are the two neck injuries John Collins suffered in a 10-day period:

– 1/20/26 — falls hard on left side of head, avoids concussion but has head laceration + neck pain.
– 3/1/26 — in first game back, hits same left side with head/neck on drive and immediately catches… https://t.co/3Aj6VFgKH5 pic.twitter.com/rvzmpnkP32

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 4, 2026

The Clippers have now ruled Collins out for Wednesday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers with an updated injury designation: Collins has a neck strain.

The fact that Collins was ruled out a full day in advance obviously doesn’t bode well for his availability in the near future, but that’s to be expected after the symptoms he showed against the Pelicans.

Collins also grabbed him by the right arm and favored him all the way down the stretch after hitting the left side of the neck.

It remains to be seen how long John Collins will be out, as the Clippers have a home game on Wednesday before embarking on a two-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies.

In 54 games for the Clippers this season, John Collins is averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three.