LOS ANGELES — The Clippers absorbed another body blow Sunday with the news that newly acquired guard Norman Powell would join injured All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the sideline, none of them with a return date to speak of.

Powell sustained a fractured medial sesamoid bone in his left foot during the third quarter of the Clippers’ loss to the Mavericks on Thursday night in Dallas. The treatment plan for now, according to the team, is non-surgical.

Coach Tyronn Lue – who chuckled Monday when asked if he felt at all like a mad scientist as he’s constantly had to experiment with new lineups this season – said he wasn’t ruling out Powell’s return this season, though he couldn’t offer any sort of definitive prognosis.

Definite hope, though? Yes.

“Hopefully,” Lue said. “I’m not really sure, but hopefully that’s the case.”

What else is certain: The Clippers will miss Powell, even though the 6-foot-3 San Diegan played only three games for them.

“It does leave a void, because now you lose Justise Winslow, Eric Bledsoe, who you traded him for, along with Keon Johnson,” Lue said, noting the players who the Clippers sent out (along with a 2025 second-round pick) for Powell and Robert Covington.”

Besides that, the Clippers liked what Powell was giving them to begin his tenure with the team; he was averaging 21 points and four assists while shooting 47.6% overall.

“Since he was here, he gave us great downhill attacks, direct line, quick decisions, getting to the free-throw line and he scored the ball rally easy,” Lue said. “So we’re definitely gonna miss that.”

On Monday night against the Golden State Warriors – who entered the game with the second-best record in the NBA – Lue’s Clippers also were missing Luke Kennard, who was out with what the team characterized as left ankle soreness (and possibly also heartbreak for the Ohio native after the Cincinnati Bengals’ Super Bowl loss).

Lue said he expected that Rodney Hood – acquired at last week’s trade deadline along with Semi Ojeleye, who was in attendance at Crypto.com Arena – would get some playing time for the short-handed Clippers against the Warriors.

“Rodney’s going to get an opportunity to play tonight,” Lue said before tipoff. “We went over some plays today so Shaun Fein and Jeremy Castleberry have just done a great job trying to get him prepared. Just pretty much early offensive stuff. Wouldn’t really think he would know a lot of the half-court stuff, but he’s going to get his chance and opportunity to play so we’ll see what happens.”

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Lue and Kennard both were part of a Clippers contingent at SoFi Stadium for the big game Sunday, where the home team won, 23-20. Leonard and George both also were in attendance, as was Terance Mann, Nicolas Batum and Powell.

Lue – a Missouri native and longtime “big-time” Rams fan – described the Super Bowl experience as “unbelievable.”

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“Just happy for the Rams, just happy for Sean McVay, the job he’s done,” Lue said. “OBJ (Odell Beckham Jr.), (Aaron Donald), all the guys that were on the team that contributed – Matthew Stafford.

“You know, guys said he couldn’t get it done and to play the way he played throughout the course of the year, throughout the course of the playoffs, just showed you that he is a Hall of Famer, just happy for all of the above.”

The halftime show was a hit with the 44-year-old coach, who grew up listening to the performers who collaborated Sunday afternoon.

“I thought it was great, seeing them that I grew up watching and loving,” Lue said. “Snoop Dogg, Dr. Drew, Eminem, Mary J. (Blige) – 50 (50 Cent) came out so that was a big surprise. And then Kendrick (Lamar). That was a hell of a show and, like I said, it was very unique to be there and it was a great time.”

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— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 14, 2022