The Los Angeles Clippers are hoping that this is finally the year they break through and reach their potential to become NBA Champions. The Clippers addressed their most pressing need which was depth and now figure to be one of the deepest teams in the league. Everything seems to line up for L.A. as long as they stay healthy, but that isn't off to the best of starts. Chris Paul broke his left index finger this preseason and while he will still play Doc Rivers expects it to affect his defense, according to Robert Morales of Inside SoCal.
The good news in this situation for the Clippers is that the broken finger is on Paul's left hand and not his right hand. Paul shoots the ball righty so if he were to have broken a finger on that hand it would cause a little bit more trouble. As it is though Paul might find it painful to dribble the ball with his left hand and also when he uses that hand to help guide the ball on his jump shot.
Rivers believes that the biggest affect from this injury will come on the defensive side of the ball for Paul because he thinks he will be hesitant to try and steal the ball away from opposing point guards for fear of hurting the finger more.
"He's a reacher. I was a reacher. It makes you not want to reach as much, which may be good. Who knows? But Chris has the best hands, to me, in the game defensively. Golden State's Steph Curry is another guy. He has amazing defensive hands and when your hands are hurting, you tend not to do it as much," said Rivers.
Despite being just 6 feet tall, Paul is one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA by almost every metric. He has led the league in steals per game six times in his career including four out of the past five years but based on Rivers' comments you shouldn't expect that again this year. For his career the 30 year old averages 2.3 steals per game although that dropped to 1.9 last season.
The Clippers will likely be able to put up with Paul's lack of steals should his numbers go down like Rivers thinks they might but if the injury affects him more on offense than anyone thinks than they are in some trouble. Paul is the Clippers best player and they need him as close to full strength as possible all year long if they want to achieve their lofty goals.
