The Los Angeles Clippers won’t take any chances with All-Star guard Chris Paul, even if means his hamstring injury will force him to miss Wednesday’s match-up against the cross-town rival Lakers.

Paul sat out his fifth straight game on Sunday as the Clippers defeated Toronto.

Coach Vinny Del Negro said Paul had worked out on Saturday but that the “smart, prudent thing to do” would be to take it slowly.

“There’s a protocol that guys have to go through, in terms of injuries and things,” Del Negro said. “We went through that in terms of his workout and conditioning. He felt good. It’s just that I think we have to be smart about the process.”

Del Negro said the team would decide after Tuesday’s practice whether Paul was ready to return to competition.

“Chris is ready to play. He wants to be out there,” Del Negro said.

“But he also knows that he hasn’t had this injury before and he wants to be smart about it as well.”

Paul, arguably the league’s best point guard, received a hero’s welcome in December when he arrived as part of a four-player deal with New Orleans.

The Clippers, longtime league laughingstocks, out-maneuvered the Lakers and several other teams seeking to land Paul prior to the lockout-shortened season.

At the time, Clippers rising star and NBA rookie of the year Blake Griffin said having Paul in the lineup would mean that when basketball fans hear about the Clippers, “it’s not going to be a joke anymore.”

Paul scored 33 points with six assists and three steals in a 102-94 victory over the Lakers in a January 14 clash, but strained his hamstring late in the fourth quarter of that contest and hasn’t played since.