Chris Paul, who has been out since injuring his hand on Jan 5 and undergoing surgery, is close to a return.
Paul went through a full 5-on-5 practice with the team and, while he is not playing Thursday night against the Lakers, he should return soon, coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Wednesday.
“He’s doing great. Just played 5-on-5, took part in our whole practice. He’s getting close. He won’t play tomorrow, but he’s feeling really good. He played a lot over the All-Star break, he told me, so the next step is for the training staff to get a feel for where he is conditioning-wise and just make sure everything is set for him to be out there.”
Paul was injured against the Pistons in early January when he went for an offensive rebound and ran into Jaden Ivey. He underwent surgery to repair a fractured metacarpal in his left hand days later.
Paul had proped up the bench units, averaging 8.9 points and 7.2 assists a game, and more importantly, the team is +8.9 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court (the Warriors have long struggled in their non-Curry minutes. Paul and now Klay Thompson coming off the bench give the Warriors a chance to have a strong second unit and make a push up the standings during the final sprint of the regular season.
