It is rumored that Chris Paul will be making his return to the court come the beginning of February.
It remains to be seen how Paul will respond to being back on the court once he makes his return. In the meantime, head coach Doc Rivers and Paul’s teammates will be holding their breath and hoping for the best. The Clippers have been thriving without him, a somewhat surprising result considering many counted the Clippers out of winning home-court advantage when Paul went down with the injury.
Sources: Chris Paul is aiming to return on either Feb. 7 (vs. Toronto) or Feb. 9 (vs. Philadelphia). Paul has been out since Jan. 3.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 31, 2014
With the Clippers winning and holding their ground in the deep Western Conference, there is no reason to rush CP3’s return. That said, the sooner the better for the Clippers. That could be prior to the All-Star Game, which Paul has been named to as a reserve and could possibly start in the absence of Kobe Bryant.
"If I can, I am playing in the All-Star game," CP3 said. "I wouldn't miss it for anything, New Orleans is part of me and means a lot to me."
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 22, 2014
Paul is a potential MVP candidate and the engine that drives the Clips. Averaging 19.6 points and 11.3 assists per game in 2013-14, the 28-year-old floor general is playing at an elite level and it’s clear that the Clippers will go only as far as he takes them. Paul has missed a total of 14 games with the injury and has not played in more than 70 regular-season games since his final season with the New Orleans Hornets in 2010-11.
The team will have to play the waiting game as to when CP3 will make his return to the floor. Whenever that comes, he will be welcomed back with open arms as the Clippers try to finish off another strong season and push for a higher playoff seeding in an attempt to gain home-court advantage for the later rounds of the playoffs. Currently they stand in fourth place in the conference, trailing the Portland Trail Blazers by one and a half games for the third position. It would behoove the Clippers to fight hard for the third position, as the winner of that seed would (as of this point) play the Phoenix Suns (as of right now they would play the Houston Rockets). While the Western Conference has no slouch of talent this season, a higher seed usually means an easier series, and this does not take exception.