The Phoenix Suns have confirmed that star point guard Chris Paul will miss the first game of the team's Western Conference Finals matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul was put in the league's health and safety protocol, Wednesday.
The league has not confirmed whether Paul has been placed in the health and safety protocol because of contact tracing or if he tested positive for COVID-19; however, Paul has been vaccinated.
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"Control what we can control," Suns' Devin Booker said. "Obviously Chris is in the health and safety protocols and we don't know the timetable on that, so we just go with what we hear day to day. It's next man up."
Cameron Payne will start in place of Paul during Game 1. During the regular season, he averaged 8.4 points and 3.6 assists behind Paul.
"He's not scared of the moment," Booker said of Payne. "Usually somebody is put in that situation, you come in a little hesitant, but that's not how he plays at all. I know he's ready for anything and he's carried himself with that type of confidence and he's put the work in to back it up. So we'll see how that goes."
Game 1 is scheduled to tip-off at 3:30 PM, ET on Sunday.
[Via]