Festus Ezeli hurt on Festivus, to miss Christmas Day game

Festus Ezeli got hurt on Festivus. You can't make this stuff up.

The Golden State Warriors backup center sprained his left ankle on Tuesday and has an MRI scheduled for Friday, rendering him a scratch for Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"I don't know if that's bad luck or what," Ezeli said of the coincidentally timed injury. There's no word if he was injured during The Feats of Strength.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, starter Andrew Bogut remains sidelined, too, so they'll face the league's leading rebounder in DeAndre Jordan without either of their primary centers. The team appears unwilling to use deep reserve Ognjen Kuzmic just for size on the roster, as the Warriors will start either Marreese Speights or David Lee. Speights may  make more sense with Lee adjusting to his new role as a reserve.

Ezeli is averaging 4.3 points and three rebounds in 11.7 minutes, but those numbers had pushed to 6.7, 3.5 and 15.4, respectively, with Bogut out over the past seven games.