The Los Angeles Clippers will again be without star point guard Chris Paul for a crucial game. On Friday, Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters that Paul is still suffering from left hamstring soreness that has caused him to miss three of the last four games.
It’s disappointing for Los Angeles, who have dropped the last four games as they’ve slowly slid to the middle of the Western Conference playoff standings.
The impact of Paul’s absence has been aggravated by an injury to Blake Griffin, who underwent knee surgery and isn’t expected back on the floor until late January.
Speaking to ESPN, it’s not entirely clear from Rivers when Paul will return:
“It’s going to be an issue for a while,” Rivers said Friday morning. “We’re going to take it very slow, and our plan early on was to limit his minutes, and we did that. We probably won’t play him tonight. [There is a] 99.9 percent [chance we] won’t play him tonight.
“He may play [Saturday at Oklahoma City]. We’re just going to be very cautious with it. He didn’t reinjure it or anything like that, but he did feel some fatigue, and that’s enough. If it were a playoff game, he would play. But if there’s fatigue, then that means to me more rest, and that’s the route we’re going.”
The bummer for Clippers fans at this point is not only having their two superstars out, but uncertainty with JJ Redick as well. The 3-point shooting maestro is also dealing with a sore left hamstring and hasn’t played since the Clippers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 111-102, on Christmas Day.
Redick’s injury further complicates projected lineups for LA against Houston, and if he’s ready to play or not will influence minutes for Austin Rivers, Raymond Felton, and Jamal Crawford.
If you’re a Clippers fan, you’re hoping both Paul and Redick are in the tub, on the foam roller, and getting treatment as often as possible to try to stop this slide.