Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

Today is Chris Paul’s 30th birthday, so Clippers coach Doc Rivers used his knowledge of that when he was asked about an update on Paul at the Wednesday morning shootaround ahead of Game 2 against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center in Houston. Paul did not play in the Clippers’ 117-101 Game 1 victory because of a strained left hamstring sustained in Game 7 of the Clippers’ first-round series with the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s his birthday, so that’s the update,” Rivers said.

But will he play?

“Yeah, we’re going to see,” Rivers said. “I pretty much doubt it, to be honest, just from talking to him. But we’ll see how he moves around and we’ll go from there.”

Paul, dressed in practice gear, was next. He seemed a bit more optimisitic about his chances of playing.

“Yeah, I’m going to see how I feel this morning here at walk-through and get with the training staff and we’ll see,” he said.

Paul was asked how difficult it is to make a decision to play or not to play. If it’s the wrong decision, as Rivers noted before Game 1, that could put Paul out for the series.

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