SACRAMENTO – Chris Paul, who missed his first game of the season with a strained right hamstring, said he is unsure if he will be able to play against the Indiana Pacers at home on Sunday afternoon.
“I want to play,” Paul said. “If I can play, I will. If not, I’ll rest it.”
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers maintained that the team will remain cautious with Paul and shooting guard J.J. Redick, who sprained his right wrist in the second quarter.
“It’s a sprained wrist and the X-rays are negative, so that’s good news,” Rivers said. “But it did swell up quite a bit and it’s his right hand. If it’s his left hand, he’d be fine because he doesn’t have one, but it’s his right hand. And we need him. We need that cannon.
“We’ll see. We want to be real safe with him and the same for Chris.”
Redick scored 13 points in the first half, helping the Clippers to a 50-45 lead at halftime. But he left the game and did not return with 4:47 left in the second quarter.
“I played the next five or six possessions and then when I took that shot and immediately felt a good amount of pain and asked Doc to take me out,” Redick said. “I don’t know if it was the shot or just the adrenaline of that fall coming down wearing off, but by the time I got back in the locker room I knew I wasn’t going back in the game.”
Redick missed a 3-pointer from the left wing and grimaced immediately after releasing the ball. He walked to the bench and then to the locker room with Clippers trainer Jasen Powell. Redick had X-rays taken on the wrist at Sleep Train Arena, with results coming back negative.
“I’m in some pain,” Redick said. “But I didn’t think there was anything broken. Where it hurts, there’s not a bone, so best case scenario is that it’s just a little sprain.”
Redick, who is averaging a career-high 15.8 points per game on 46.0 percent shooting, said there is “throbbing and swelling” in the wrist. He hopes to have an MRI on Saturday.
“The way it’s feeling right now, I think an MRI is probably the best option as soon as possible,” he said.
If Redick is unable to play Sunday, it is likely Willie Green will start in place.