Chris Paul sits out because of hamstring strain; Raymond Felton starts in his place for Clippers

Chris Paul didn’t play Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks because of a strained left hamstring suffered during the Clippers’ victory over San Antonio on Thursday night at Staples Center.

Coach Doc Rivers said that Paul might play Christmas night against the Lakers at Staples Center, a Lakers designated home game.

“They gave us a sense that it wasn’t a severe strain,” Rivers said. “He could possibly play Sunday, but he may not. We’ll see.”

Rivers said Jasen Powell, the Clippers’ director of medical services and head athletic trainer, will make the decision on when Paul is healthy enough to play.

“That’s something I never get involved in,” Rivers said. “They’ll tell me when he can play and JP [Powell] has been great with that. That’s one thing I never get involved in because coaches want to win every game and want to play their guys so it’s good for a coach to not get too involved in that stuff.”

With Paul not playing and Blake Griffin out while he recovers from the arthroscopic right knee surgery he had Tuesday, it would be easy for the Clippers to feel down.

But Rivers does not accept that.

“You just don’t. There’s no reason to do that,” Rivers said. “C.P. is obviously out tonight and we’ll evaluate from there.

“But, you just keep going. We’ve got a lot of guys. We got a lot of guys that can play. My saying is we pay them all. We don’t just pay one or two.”

Rivers started Paul Pierce for the second straight game in place of Griffin, and Raymond Felton started at point guard in place of Paul.

NBA players ratify CBA

A happy Paul walked down the hallway near the Clippers’ locker room, his mood upbeat.

Paul, the president of the NBA Players’ Assn., was excited because the players voted Friday to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement.

The owners had voted to pass the proposed seven-year CBA on Wednesday.

“We got it done,” Paul said. “We had 97% of the votes for doing it. It’s a good thing.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner