Chris Paul ‘played on one leg’ vs. Warriors Tuesday night

Chris Paul was off the floor late in the Rockets win Tuesday night, and now we know why.

As the Houston Rockets finished a fourth quarter comeback and held on to beat the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night, point guard Chris Paul was mysteriously absent over the final five minutes or so. Paul did not score a bunch in his Rockets’ debut, with four points (2-for-9 from the floor), but he did have 11 assists, eight rebounds and two steals over 33 minute.

Seeing Paul on the bench at crunch time against Golden State was odd, to say the least. But Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni has pointed to Paul’s preseason left knee injury as the reason for him being on the bench late in the fourth quarter of a tight game.

Paul also dealt with a right shoulder issue during the preseason, but soreness in his left knee led D’Antoni to compare it to playing on one leg. Paul was not too down about not be able to play though.

The Rockets have a quick turnaround on a back-to-back to start the season, as they play the  Kings Wednesday night in Sacramento. Paul has to be considered questionable to play at this point, and his status may go right down to the wire before a 7 p.m. Pacific time tip-off.

The prospect of missed time due to injury is nothing new for Paul. He missed 21 games last season with the Clippers, and has played more than 75 games just once in the last five seasons (70 or fewer three times in that span).

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Caution was clearly the word for D’Antoni on Tuesday night, and it will surely be again on Wednesday if Paul has any lingering knee soreness. It’s better to have him in street clothes in the second game of a back-to-back in October, rather than put him out there in limited fashion and risk an ongoing issue or a much longer absence.