Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul didn’t practice Sunday after he sprained his left thumb during Saturday’s practice.
The Clippers said Paul will be listed as day to day.
Coach Doc Rivers said Paul, who wore black tape around his hand and thumb that could be seen by the media before practice Sunday morning, “banged his hand” during practice on Saturday.
Rivers quickly pointed out that the injury wasn’t to the right shooting hand Paul had surgery on after it was broken in the playoff series against Portland last April.
“Nothing broke, or anything like that,” Rivers said. “We’ll wait and see.”
The Clippers have two exhibitions left, Monday at Utah and Tuesday at Sacramento, before the regular season opens.
“He’ll definitely play in one of the two (games),” Rivers said.
“So that tells you it’s not that serious. We’re just not sure which.”
READY FOR SEASON
Just two dress rehearsals remain before the Clippers raise the curtain on the real season.
But before they fast forward to the regular-season opener on October 27 at Portland, the Clippers want to continue making progress when they play against the Jazz and Kings in back-to-back games.
“You want to be sharp in these last two games,” Blake Griffin said. “But we still have a pretty big gap of time between our first game. That week of practice is very important for us.”
After the last game at Sacramento, the Clippers will have eight days to get ready for the Portland game.
So these next two games have some importance.
“I just think putting together a whole game,” Griffin said.
“I’m glad we’re playing these last two on the road. Finding our defensive talk on the road is a little bit different. At home, our home crowd, in front of your own bench sometimes is a little bit easier. But on the road, keeping that talk up and continuing the things that
we worked on practice is important.”
Rivers wants to see his team become more effective on offense. He hopes these last two games provides the Clippers that opportunity.
“We’ve put in a lot of stuff lately,” Rivers said.
“I don’t think we are good at running it offensively. But I think it gives us a chance to run it against other teams, and all our stuff and try to get our continuity. And really that’s it, just continuity.”
Griffin said the players will let Rivers decide how much they play in the next two games.
“I’m sure one of the games we’ll play a little bit more real-game minutes,” Griffin said. “But honestly, it’s up to him.
“I feel like the starting unit has a pretty good foundation that we’ve laid over the past three or four years on how we want to play.
“That’s not to say we don’t need to work on things, but I’m somewhat comfortable with those guys.”
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