6:29pm: Billups told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) that he plans to continue playing.
5:03pm: Clippers guard Chauncey Billups will miss the remainder of the season with a torn left Achilles’ tendon, coach Vinny Del Negro told T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times (report by Mike James). While history isn't on the 35-year-old's side, it's premature to assume that this will mark the end of his career, a source close to the guard told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
The guard suffered the injury midway through the fourth quarter of last night's overtime victory against the Magic. Billups had been starting in the backcourt alongside Chris Paul, averaging 15.0 PPG and 4.0 APG.
The 15-7 Clippers will promote Randy Foye to the starting two-guard spot in place of Billups, tweets J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today. General Manager Neil Olshey & Co. will likely explore outside help and could ramp up their pursuit of J.R. Smith, who will soon return to the NBA after a stint in China. Clippers officials may also take a short drive to check out Gilbert Arenas' open workout later this week or look to the trade market where guards such as Anthony Morrow could be made available.
As Luke Adams outlined earlier today, the Clippers won't be able to use their disabled player exception to replace Billups. The new CBA only allows teams to apply for the exception between July 1st and January 15th, regardless of when the injury occurs.
It’s a big loss. but they should be fine with CP3, Mo Williams etc..
Maybe Mo will lose the attitude because he will get more minutes now…