Injury Is Worst-Case Scenario

Without Elton Brand, a Clipper source said last week, “We’re the worst team in the league.”

So the most disheartening news for the Clippers on Thursday wasn’t that they lost to the undermanned Seattle SuperSonics, 109-100, in their season opener in front of 19,323 in the Saitama Super Arena at Saitama, Japan.

It was that an MRI exam revealed afterward that Brand, who had contributed 21 points, 15 rebounds, eight blocked shots and five assists in 37 minutes, had suffered a broken right foot, probably as early as the second quarter.

The Clippers’ leading scorer and rebounder the last two seasons, owner of a new six-year, $82-million contract, Brand is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks, which could leave a young, rebuilding team without its best player for as many as 17 games.

Coach Mike Dunleavy, whose Clippers never led against a Seattle team not expected to make the playoffs and playing without injured three-time All-Star Ray Allen, tried to look at the bright side during a conference call with Southern California reporters this morning but didn’t sound convincing.

“He’s our main guy in the low post, he’s our big rebounder, he’s our shot blocker,” the coach said of Brand, an All-Star last season. “Of all the injuries on our team, that’s the one we could least afford, but it gives somebody an opportunity to step up.

“There’s going to be a lot of minutes available and, hopefully, somebody’s going to come in and use that time very productively and make us better by the time Elton comes back....

“It’s going to give one of these young guys that much more experience and hopefully they will be able to take this time and take their game to another level.”

Melvin Ely, who averaged 4.5 points as a rookie last season, probably would be the top choice to replace Brand in the starting lineup, but he sat out the opener because of a left shoulder injury and is questionable for tonight’s rematch.

The other candidates are Chris Wilcox, who averaged 3.7 points as a rookie last season, and 7-foot rookie Chris Kaman, who would play center, with Predrag Drobnjak moving into Brand’s spot at power forward.

Brand sat out 20 games last season because of leg injuries but still averaged 18.5 points and 11.3 rebounds, among them a league-leading 4.6 on the offensive end. In four NBA seasons, he has averaged 19.2 points and 10.7 rebounds.

In July, he signed an offer sheet with the Miami Heat but the Clippers matched, awarding him a contract that broke the previous club record by $67 million and signaled a new direction for the club after decades of tightfistedness.

And in the opener he rewarded the Clippers’ faith in him with another blue-collar effort, despite complaining before the game of soreness in his foot.

But he came up limping after a second-quarter scrum and, Dunleavy said, was examined at halftime for a different injury than the one he had talked about before the game. After the game, in which the Clippers cut an 18-point deficit to 104-100 in the final minute, the Clippers were busing back to their Tokyo hotel when Dunleavy was told that Brand would be going to a hospital for further tests.

As Thursday night bled into Friday morning in Japan, the coach got the bad news: The MRI exam had revealed a hairline fracture.

“I didn’t really have a sense it was [that bad],” Dunleavy said, “because of the way he played. I’d love to have the amount of points, rebounds and blocked shots he had on a fractured foot.”

Brand’s mood this morning was “kind of somber,” Dunleavy said. “He’s disappointed, obviously, because he loves to play.”

He predicted that Brand would be sidelined for six weeks, which would put him back in the lineup Dec. 13 against the Phoenix Suns.

And put the Clippers in a bind until he’s ready to return.

“We’re not a team that’s very deep, as far as low-post scorers,” Dunleavy said. “Your first choice wouldn’t be to lose a low-post scorer. And then on top of that, he’s our best rebounder and shot blocker.

“You know, it’s tough. But it’s done. You can’t get it back. You can’t cry over it. Somebody’s got to use this as a positive. Don’t cry for me. We know we’ll get him back and he’ll be who he is when we get him back, hopefully.”