John Collins leaves the Lakers game with a head injury
The The Los Angeles Clippers are still without Darius Garland for their Friday night matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. The last thing they needed was to miss another key piece due to injury. In the midst of their contest against the Lakers, John Collins suffered a head injury on a dangerous play in which Jackson Hayes tripped him near the basket after a lob attempt.
This wasn’t an intentional play by Hayes by any means, but it was still an unfortunate sequence that now forces Collins into the locker room prematurely. Hayes was simply trying to deflect the lob pass, but his momentum carried it backwards and right into the Clippers’ path. Collins then landed hard on the hardwood which then caused a sudden blow to the head, causing bleeding.
According to ClutchPoints, Clippers beat reporter Tomer Azarly, Collins did now being evaluated for a head injury, meaning he can’t return to action overnight until he completes certain tests. In theory, Collins could return to action against the Lakers if he clears all protocols, a unique situation considering players usually have to make free throws before leaving in order to return.
Before being forced out, Collins had 12 points, one rebound and one steal in 16 minutes of action.
The Clippers are looking to complete their comeback attempt against the Lakers without John Collins
Without Collins, the Clippers will either have to play small and rely on Kawhi Leonard to play the four, or they could bring out Nicolas Batum and Derrick Jones Jr. and have them play on the wing.
The Clippers pulled off a stunning comeback from a double-digit deficit against the Lakers, and with ESPN’s Jorge Sedano confirming on the air that Collins won’t be back, they’ll have to beat LA at their own game instead of beating them with size the way they did. Collins lets them.
2026-02-21 05:15:00
