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Kendra Andrews, ESPN
Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul is slated to return to game action Tuesday when the Warriors face the Wizards in Washington.
Paul has not played since Jan. 5 after fracturing his left hand. He had surgery to repair the fracture.
The 19-year-veteran suffered the injury in a January contest against the Detroit Pistons. Midway through the third quarter, Paul attempted to collect a long rebound off of a missed 3-pointer when his hand awkwardly slammed into Jaden Ivey.
This injury is added to a long list of other hand injuries Paul has sustained during his career.
In his 32 games in his first season with the Warriors, Paul is averaging 8.9 points on 42.4% shooting and 7.2 assists in 27.6 minutes per game.
“Chris will play all of the non-Steph minutes, and he’ll be out there with Steph as well,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said following their loss to the Nuggets on Monday. “It’s easier for us to put Steph off the ball and take some of the wear and tear off of him when Chris is out there.”
Brought to Golden State to anchor the second unit, Paul is returning to a team that has seen major changes to its rotation — most notably Klay Thompson taking a sixth man role.
The team is optimistic that the combination of Paul and Thompson coming off the bench will make its second unit extremely lethal, but it’s unclear how all of the bench minutes will be divided.
“You can’t really ask for a better backcourt to come off the bench,” Thompson said. “It’s very exciting.”