Chris Paul out indefinitely for the Clippers with a broken hand

Los Angeles Clippers star point guard Chris Paul is out indefinitely after breaking his right hand in Monday's Game 4 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the team announced on Tuesday. Paul had surgery to repair the fractured bone in his hand one day after suffering the injury.

Paul broke his hand while defending Gerald Henderson in the third quarter of the game. The point guard knew immediately that the injury was bad, as he left the game with a lot of pain and palpable frustration. The broken hand diagnosis was given shortly after he went to the locker room, and the Blazers pulled away down the stretch with Paul out.

This is a killer blow to the Clippers' title hopes, which had been raised following the news that Stephen Curry will miss at least two weeks with a knee injury. Los Angeles appeared set to move on to the second round to face the defending champs without Curry for a good chunk of the series at the minimum, but now it's going to be difficult just to get past Portland.

Paul had been enjoying a huge series against the Blazers after another excellent regular season in which he averaged nearly 20 points and 10 assists. The Clippers are a completely different team with their point guard on the bench, and making matters worse is the fact that both Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick are hurting as well.