Chris Paul returned to the Warriors’ lineup on Tuesday after being out since early January.
Veteran guard Chris Paul returned to the Warriors’ lineup Thursday vs. the Wizards after missing the past 21 games. He scored nine points (on 3-for-6 shooting) along with four rebounds, six assists and four steals in 22 minutes during the 123-112 win.
Paul was sidelined as he recovered from surgery on his fractured left hand after he suffered the injury in a 113-109 win against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 5.
Back in action tonight, CP3 ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/nbODtlXWNG
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 27, 2024
Heading into Tuesday’s game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he expected Paul to play all the minutes that Stephen Curry is off the court. That means Paul and former All-Star Klay Thompson will be Golden State’s 1-2 punch off the bench.
“Chris will play all of the non-Steph minutes and he’ll be out there with Steph as well,” Kerr said, per Warriors.com. “It’s easier for us to put Steph off the ball and take some of that wear and tear off him when Chris is out there.”
Paul’s return: The 38-year-old is averaging 8.9 points, 7.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds in a career-low 27.6 minutes per game this season for the Warriors, but could see those numbers rise playing in a remade Warriors bench unit. He was acquired from Washington on Draft day for Jordan Poole after earlier going to the Wizards from Phoenix.
Midway through the third quarter on Tuesday, Paul stood for a few seconds outside the arc, and when no one came out to guard him, swished a 3 that put Golden State ahead 85-71, walking to the bench with a bemused smile.
Late in the quarter, he calmly pointed his teammates to their spots on the floor while being guarded by Corey Kispert, then lofted a perfect lob to forward Jonathan Kuminga for a dunk and a 98-75 Warriors lead.
“As a team, as a unit, we have so much depth, so many different ways that we can play, it’s going to take us a little while to figure it out,” Paul said. “But obviously you want to figure it out and win at the same time.”
Golden State (30-27) went 12-9 during Paul’s absence, including a 2-6 mark through late January. However, the Warriors have more than found their footing since then and are 10-3 since Jan. 30 — the fourth-best mark in the league in that span.
This season may be the dawn of a new era for the Warriors, who captured four titles behind the nucleus of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green. Now each in their 30s, the trio is getting some younger help in the form of rookie guard Brandin Podziemski and Kuminga, who is in his third season.
The Warriors are No. 10 in the Western Conference but trail the No. 6-seeded New Orleans Pelicans (34-24) by four games and are 3 1/2 games behind the Sacramento Kings (33-24) and Dallas Mavericks (33-24) for the No. 7 and 8 seeds, respectively.
Paul was hurt when he missed a 3-pointer from the right wing with 6:08 left in the third quarter and moved to try to corral the long rebound when he made contact with Detroit’s Jaden Ivey. Paul grabbed his hand before going to the locker room. He would have surgery on the injury four days later.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
