That’s how disrespectful many basketball know-it-alls had the Suns-Lakers series going. The funny thing is Paul and the Suns, even with Davis injured, were expected to roll over and go home quietly in the night after five games. That’s because a shoulder injury suffered in Game 1 of that series limited Paul to almost mop-up duty work as Booker took over, including a smashing of last year’s NBA champions with a 47-point performance at STAPLES Center in Game 6. That’s the kind of scoring production basketball fans didn’t get a chance to see in the Suns’ six-game elimination of the Lakers in the first round. More importantly, Paul still has the talent to drop 37 points on you as he did against the Denver Nuggets in a semifinal elimination game. And you know what you’re getting in Paul, an elite floor general with enough moxie to get in your face. Yes, the Suns had a sideline mentor in Williams who would coach up and maximize the potential of his young players. Sure, Phoenix had the prolific scoring machine in the young Booker. Los Angeles jumped out to a 43-17 first-quarter lead against Phoenix enroute to posting a 117-107 win at Staples Center. The Lakers, however, would get the last laugh. He’s been the quarterback the whole season, so it’s always a blessing to have him out there with us.” Janu© Mark Hammond/News4usonline – Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker scored a game-high 32 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on New Year’s Day. “The game is a lot easier when he’s out there,” Phoenix guard Cameron Payne said after the Suns had beaten the Lakers in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. Who would have thought? Not too many folks. It has been Paul’s steady hand as a veteran of NBA wars in the regular season as well in the postseason that has propelled the Suns to being one series away from playing in the NBA Finals. It seemed things have worked out pretty well for Williams and Paul. But then he connected again with Williams, who coached Paul when the New Orleans franchise was first the Hornets and later on the Pelicans. And so Paul became almost an afterthought, a future Hall of Famer finishing his career into the abyss. In two seasons in Houston, Paul and James Harden couldn’t get it done.Ī one-year stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder seemed almost like a banishment into basketball oblivion for the 11-time NBA All-Star. After spending six seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he never advanced past the second round in the playoffs, Paul was sort of in a castaway role. In the last four seasons, Paul has played for three teams, a not-so-subtle signal that the end is near. Before arriving in Phoenix this season, Paul was pretty much thought of being on the last leg of his brilliant career. And then there’s Paul, a man playing in his 16th season. No one really cared that Phoenix head coach Monty Williams, with Paul’s help, had resurrected the Suns back into basketball prominence. Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, right, is defended by Los Angeles Lakers guard Wesley Matthews (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, May 9, 2021, in Los Angeles. It didn’t matter that Devin Booker, one of the league’s hedging stars on the rise, is about the closest thing in the NBA that comes close to resembling the toughness and sheer heart of Kobe Bryant. It didn’t matter that Paul and the Suns had posted the second-best record this season in the Western Conference. Remember when Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns were laughable picks going up against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs? There were not a whole lot of people giving Paul and the Suns the benefit of the doubt going up against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Purple and Gold crew.
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