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Rivers Doubts Paul Will Play Game 2

Rowan Kavner

HOUSTON – Sitting out for Game 2 isn’t the way Chris Paul wants to spend his 30th birthday.

But that’s a distinct possibility for the starting point guard, who missed Game 1 after straining his hamstring at the end of the first-round series against the Spurs.

“It’s really tough, especially with the way that I play,” Paul said Wednesday during shootaround. “There’s only one way I know how to play. It’s one of those things, you don’t want to make it any worse than it already is.”

Head coach Doc Rivers said the team will see how Paul feels after shootaround, but he doubts Paul will be able to go from talking to the trainers and the point guard.

“I don’t know that, but that’d be my guess,” said Rivers, who added that he’s not thinking about Paul’s status beyond Wednesday.

Paul said he’s been with the training staff “all day, every day” doing all he can to try to return to the court. He said every day is better, and while he hopes his hamstring will be ready by tonight, his status is still up in the air.

6:30pm PT

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From the second Paul injured the hamstring and proceeded to hit a 3-pointer in Game 7 against the Spurs, he knew he wouldn’t likely be able to go at least for the first game of the Round 2 series, despite returning in the Game 7 matchup to send his team to Houston.

“That’s why I was so emotional, I think, when I hit the shot,” Paul said. “I was telling our trainer on the bench, it was almost a bittersweet moment.”

Paul said whenever he’s physically capable of returning, he’s going to play.

He wasn’t able to do that in the first game of the series, but that didn’t stop him from making his presence felt on the bench. He said he tried to tell his teammates what he saw without being too vocal in the heat of the moment. 

“I told them if I was to miss tonight, I’d probably have to take some type of anxiety pills,” Paul said. “It’s a lot more nerve-racking being on the bench than in the game, but we’re such a team. Guys really showed a lot of resolve. This is probably the reason why I’ll never coach, not at this level; maybe my AAU kids, but not this. This is too stressful.”

The Clippers were able to pull out the Game 1 victory on the road despite being without their star point guard, who’s averaging 22.7 points and 7.9 assists per game in the playoffs. The Clippers can rest assured they’ll be heading back to Los Angeles either up 2-0 or, at worst, in a tie series depending on what happens Wednesday night.

“That definitely didn’t hurt,” Paul said. “I told the guys after last game, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Blake (Griffin) let me know that he needed me, but I’ll see how it feels, and we’ll see.”