The Los Angeles Clippers are in pretty good position right now regarding the playoffs, as they are fourth in the Western Conference. The Clippers are three-and-a-half games ahead of the Grizzlies, who are in fifth place and three-and-a-half behind the Thunder for third place, so they appear likely to finish fourth. As the playoffs near, though, the Clippers are increasingly concerned about Chris Paul's workload, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register.
Paul has been forced to take on a much bigger role since Blake Griffin went down with a quad injury. As you likely know now, Griffin also ended up breaking his hand and has now been out for 27 games with no return in sight. With Griffin out, Paul has become the one go-to guy on offense and the only star on the floor for the Clippers, and as a result, his minutes and usage have gone way up. This was only compounded further when Paul's backup Austin Rivers also fractured his hand. Rivers has now missed eight games and likely won't be back for another month, according to Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times.
There are many in the Clippers organization, along with head coach Doc Rivers, who believe that they may be wearing down Paul before the playoffs even get started. Unfortunately for the Clippers, they really haven't had any other choice but to put so much on Paul's plate. Rivers has vowed to rest Paul periodically as the season winds down, but that may not be an option until the playoff picture is clearer.
The Clippers are pretty set in the fourth spot right now, but there is a chance to move both up a spot and down a spot. Getting the third seed would be huge because that would mean avoiding the juggernaut that is the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the playoffs. Also, avoiding the fifth seed is huge too because the Clippers would like to at least have home court advantage in round one. For those reasons, the Clippers really need Paul out on the floor as much as possible, and there really is no avoiding it.
The argument could be made that having Paul healthy for the playoffs is more important than seeding, but that may not be true. The Clippers can use every advantage possible heading into the playoffs, and home court and avoiding the Warriors are great things to play for. Chris Paul suffered mild injuries in the Clippers last game, according to Rotoworld, but if he feels good enough to go and wants to play, the Clippers really have no choice but to let him right now.
