The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals behind a dominant all-around performance from Blake Griffin and a balanced scoring effort. Make no mistake, though – for Doc Rivers’ club to win a title, it needs a healthy and effective Chris Paul.
And unfortunately for the Clippers, the point guard’s status is still uncertain after sitting out last night.
On Los Angeles’ off-day between games at Houston’s Toyota Center, Rivers said it’s a “50-50” proposition that Paul will play in Wednesday’s Game 2 – and insisted the outcome of last night’s contest will have no bearing on the superstar’s return.
Here’s Doc via the Los Angeles Times’ Melissa Rohlin:
“I’d say 50-50,” Rivers said. “I just don’t really know.”
[…]
“Even if we lost, that decision [for Game 2] wouldn’t be different,” Rivers said.
A vocal minority of league analysts have called for Paul to miss tomorrow’s game irrespective of his readiness, and it’s not hard to see why. Hamstring strains are notoriously fickle and take weeks rather than days to fully heal. Paul showed in Game 7 versus San Antonio that he can perform at a starring level with limited mobility; the question going forward is what would happen if he further aggravated his injury.
Holding a 1-0 lead and facing a best-of-five with home-court advantage at the very least, might giving Paul an extra two days to rehab be most prudent for Los Angeles’ long-term chances? We think yes.
Despite its wholly dispiriting performance on Monday, though, Houston is fully capable of winning multiple games at Staples Center. James Harden is bound to play like the MVP runner-up eventually; Dwight Howard has shown no signs of slowing down after a dominant first-round series; and the Rockets as a whole will have a fire lit under them after enduring so much scrutiny following Game 1.
Then there’s the complication of Paul’s competitive nature, too. Is there a player in the league who’d be more hellbent on returning to the fray as soon as possible? Rivers doesn’t seem to think so.
“That’s an injury you just don’t know, and it’s an injury you can’t do an X-ray and say that you’re all right,” Rivers said. “It’s an injury where you’ve got to trust your player, which is the worst kind of trust in this situation.”
Do the Clippers trust themselves enough to play the long-game with regard to Paul’s status? We’ll find out soon enough.
Game 2 is tomorrow night at 9:30 EST.
