Suns coach Monty Williams was waxing lyrical about Paul and said it was difficult to rank his achievements as a scorer, leader and game manager.
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Veteran point guard Chris Paul had the perfect game as he helped the Phoenix Suns defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 on Thursday. Paul went 14 of 14 from the field, the most field goals without a miss in an NBA playoff game. “I had no clue,” said Paul, who scored 33 points and had eight assists. “I think maybe at halftime I said I might have to shoot a little more. But throughout the game, I was literally managing the game. I wasn’t taking heat checks. I don’t shoot enough to have heat checks.”
The Suns overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to finish off the Pelicans in Game 6 and will now face the Dallas Mavericks in the second-round series. CP3 had earlier led the Suns to victories by scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter of Games 1 and 3 after trying to distribute the ball to teammates in the first three quarters. Suns coach Monty Williams was waxing lyrical about Paul and said it was difficult to rank his achievements as a scorer, leader and game manager. “I can’t even say because he’s done it so many times,” Williams said. “This is probably No. 1 because it just happened, and I knew how special New Orleans is to him. He cares deeply about the city and the fans and the children. It’s probably No. 1 because it just happened.”
Devin Booker who made his return to the starting lineup said, “Nobody’s seen this, 14 for 14. This is the first time for all of us.” Booker played for the first time in nine days since straining his right hamstring. He scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting and had five rebounds and three assists. “It was really nice to have him back,” Paul said. “All that pressure they’ve been doing against us the whole series, especially the last three games, was tough. (Booker) was on that left-wing, and I don’t know if they forgot or didn’t realize who he was, but I saw how they were shifted.”
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After Brandon Ingram gave the Pelicans their final lead, 104-103, on a reverse baseline layup with 2:00 left, Paul found Booker unguarded on the left-wing, and he made the 3-pointer to put Phoenix ahead 106-104 with 1:42 left. “It caught me off guard, too,” Booker said. “You don’t normally get clean looks like that.” The team from Phoenix erased the 10-point halftime deficit by making 13 of their first 14 shots in the third quarter to take a 77-74 lead.
At that point, Paul was 10 of 10 from the field and Ayton was 6 of 6. Paul had 13 points in the quarter, but New Orleans used an 11-5 run to take an 85-82 lead into the final period. New Orleans coach Willie Green, one of Paul’s closest friends, said he didn’t have to be told about how special Paul’s 14-of-14 night was. “Don’t remind me of that right now,” he said. “I’m proud we stood the test. I couldn’t ask for any better effort.”
