Chris Paul, who must play in at least one game before the All-Star Game in order to be eligible to play in the event, is mere days away from returning after dislocating his shoulder.
“He didn’t really go through shootaround but he went through some 1-on-1’s today and looked pretty good so I think he’s very close,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “I don’t want to give a day. I don’t think he’ll play Friday, but he could play after that, but I don’t know that.
“Today in 1-on-1’s he took contact, but it’s still not 5-on-5. We may go tomorrow or Saturday just to get him some contact.”

On Sunday in Milwaukee, an NCAA record held for eight years by Clippers guard J.J. Redick could fall.
Senior Travis Bader of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., needs only three 3-pointers to surpass the record of 457 Redick set while at Duke.
Redick and the Clippers have already sent along a congratulatory video they made for Bader and Redick plans on calling the 6-foot-5 senior after he surpasses the record.
“I just found an article the other day about him so I learned a little bit about him, a skinny little kid coming into college and he works his butt off, that he’s a good representation of his school,” Redick said. “I heard something this summer, someone said something about it to me, so I knew it was going to be broken this year.”
Redick, who recalled the mental and emotional strain his own chase for the record put on him, has resisted reaching out to Bader so far.
“I thought about texting him the other day, telling him to stop being such a head case,” Redick said, smiling. “I’ll just wait ’til he breaks it.”

With the conversion of Staples Center from hockey rink to basketball court, the Clippers didn’t get a chance to have a true shootaround before Saturday’s game against Utah.
Coach Doc Rivers seemed to prefer it that way, sensing that his players are still not fully recovered from the recent stretch of nine games in nine different cities.
“We’re going through a heck of a point in the schedule and I’ve been around long enough to know when you practice tired, you don’t learn anything from that, you don’t get better from that,” said Rivers, who gave his team Friday off. “I’ve said it for years, if I have a choice between the head and the legs, I’m taking the legs. I need legs. You’re not going to win without those in the games.”
The Clippers have already played 12 of their 17 back-to-back games on their schedule. When Rivers looked at the slate before the season and saw their current stretch of games, he didn’t figure they would be truly be able to recuperate until after Wednesday’s home game against Miami.
“I don’t think you recover quickly from that,” Rivers said of the schedule. “In the second half (of the season) we have a more favorable schedule, more practice time, I think we’ll be able to improve as a team.
“I don’t know if we’ll win more or less, but I know we’ll have a chance to be a better basketball team in the second half of the year.”
The Clippers did get a film session and a walk-through in the locker room before the game. They marked the floor with tape and went through the game plan.
“You still go over the same plays, just no rim involved,” Rivers said. “Sometimes that helps.”

Chris Paul is out nursing his shoulder injury, but he’s still chirping away at his teammates from the bench and his teammates welcome his input.
“Chris is a coach when he’s playing, so he’s definitely a coach when he’s not playing,” DeAndre Jordan said. “You can hear his voice throughout the game just like he’s out there. I feel like Chris sees a lot of things before they happen and on the bench, he tells us ‘Do this, do this’ and it works.”
With Paul out, Coach Doc Rivers has to search a little deeper for lineup combinations and he’s come across an unlikely one that is becoming a hit.
Normally, J.J. Redick starts at No. 2 guard, then gives way to super sixth man Jamal Crawford. But down the stretch in Wednesday’s win over Washington, the duo was on the floor together and they combined to score 20 of the Clippers’ 29 points in the fourth quarter.
“It’s the first time we’ve been playing together,” Redick said. “Early in the season before Chris got hurt and before I got hurt, there was a lot of splitting time and maybe depending on the lineups down the stretch you may play 4-5 minutes with the guys.
“And at that point Chris and Blake (Griffin) were pretty much controlling the ball in those scenarios. It’s been kind of out of necessity we’ve played more together in the last few weeks. It’s been great, but easy, too. Jamal’s a good player, he makes basketball plays and it’s been easy.”
When Paul returns, he’ll have the ball in his hands at crucial moments but at least the Clippers have the knowledge they have more than one alternative at hand.
“There’s no way you would ever say it’s a bad thing to find different ways to win,” Redick said. “When you get your guy back and you head toward the playoffs and you get in the playoffs, wins are so important.
“So if you can figure out ways now in January when you’re shorthanded or you have off-nights or you’re playing from behind . . . and you pull out victories, those are building blocks.”

The Clippers face off tonight against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, the teams’ first meeting since Golden State’s 105-103 win on Christmas Day. In that game, the Clippers believed Blake Griffin was wrongly ejected after a tussle with Andrew Bogut.
While Doc Rivers was admittedly upset by the defeat, he also wanted to impart to his players that just like playing without injured players, the show must go on.
“I thought we played great and we didn’t win,” Rivers said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to win it and sustaining through the game. They’re a great team, they’re going to make some runs because they have offensive firepower.
“Composure in any big game, not just in that game, in any game, is important. I actually thought we held our composure and got penalized. But it doesn’t matter and I told our guys after that game: Listen, we wanted Blake to be in that game and he got thrown out.
“We still have to find a way to win the game. That’s the mentality that we have to get no matter who’s on the floor. I was angry more at we lost the game to them than we lost Blake. What if he fouled out, are we going to get mad at that, you know what I mean? That was a very winnable game.”

Doc Rivers has done his share of lobbying on DeAndre Jordan’s behalf. Jordan leads the NBA in rebounding and shooting percentage, is in the top five in blocked shots and (gasp) made six consecutive free throws Wednesday night.
Now it’s up to the Western Conference coaches to determine of Jordan has been truly All-Star caliber this season.
The seven reserves for each conference will be announced today.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Jordan said. “Whatever the coaches vote, I’ll respect it but at the same time, I have a game (Thursday) night and I’ve got to be focused on that. If I make it, I make it. I’ll be really excited, but if not it’s another chip I can add on my shoulder I’ll continue to keep playing like I’m playing this season.”
Teammate Blake Griffin, an All-Star starter, is backing his teammate fully but understands that every year, disappointment pops up around the league when someone is left out.
“Every year, there are guys that get snubbed,” Griffin said. “Last year if you look at Steph Curry, just off the top of my head, that’s a huge one right there. I felt like he deserved it. So for DeAndre, I think he has had an all-star year, but by no means does all-star define what you do for the season.”