Clippers’ Jamal Crawford has elbow injury but says he will play Friday

Reporting from Washington  — Jamal Crawford helped put the finishing touches on the Clippers’ win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, and then settled into a chair and wrapped his right elbow in ice.

It wasn’t until Thursday he revealed why. A bursa sac, which cushions the areas between bones and muscles, had burst, possibly during the game against the Pacers.

Crawford practiced Thursday and said, “Yeah, I’m playing,” against the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

He wasn’t sure when he suffered injury, but noticed it after Wednesday’s game.

“My elbow was out to there,” said Crawford, showing how large it had swollen.

Crawford said the Clippers’ training staff didn’t drain his elbow but “did some other stuff” to get the fluid out, allowing him to practice despite some soreness.

“I didn’t think about it during the game until afterward,” Crawford said. “Then I felt it. When you’re playing, the adrenaline is flowing and the game was tight. I didn’t think about it then.”

It was a good thing for the Clippers that Crawford played through his elbow issue.

He had 18 points on seven-for-12 shooting.

But it was his play late in the game that helped to power the Clippers to their ninth consecutive victory.

When the Clippers 20-point lead shrunk to three late in the fourth quarter, Crawford made a three-pointer for a six-point lead.

And when the lead was cut to two points later, Crawford made a 20-foot jumper with 1:50 left.

It was the way in which Crawford made his last two jump shots that showed just how much his game has evolved during his 15th season in the NBA.

Normally at his best using his deft crossover dribble, Crawford made both of his jumpers coming off screens, taking both passes from point guard Chris Paul.

“I was just looking for ways on how I can be more effective and how I can be more well-rounded,” Crawford said. “I wanted to work on catch-and-shoot a lot last summer. I figured that playing with Chris and Blake [Griffin], they get so much attention, there were more ways to be effective than just off the dribble. So I worked on the catch-and-shoot.”

Injury update

Reggie Bullock and Chris Douglas-Roberts both practiced Thursday, but the Clippers said neither is expected to play against the Wizards.

Bullock (sprained right ankle) and Douglas-Roberts (strained right Achilles’) both have been out with injuries.

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