Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Paul has the Los Angeles Clippers sitting in excellent shape in their playoff series with the Memphis Grizzlies. Obviously, it’s not over with the Clippers up 2-0, but if Paul keeps putting in the clutch moments like he did in Game 2, Los Angeles is going to be tough to beat.
He shot 1-for-5 in the first half and netted five points, Paul shot 8-for-12 in the second half and scored 19 while nobody else on the Clippers had more than seven during that time. Paul showed that he is willing to be the come-to-the-rescue guy that NBA title contenders need in the playoffs to pull out a win from a near-certain loss.
That’s what Paul did against the Grizzlies, who thought they were going back to Memphis with a 1-1 tie. But, the Clippers have held serve on their home court and Paul deserves a huge amount of credit for the huge 2-0 lead. The Grizzlies can still rally back, but the Clippers seem to be playing with a lot of confidence right now especially with Paul leading the way.
He was 9-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the foul-line for 24 points. He had nine assists and four rebounds.
Paul is playing his best basketball now and that’s good news for the Clippers, but not good news for the Grizzlies. He ended the season at 23.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game. He scored 23 points against the Grizzlies in the first game of the playoffs, and has totaled 27 assists in his last three games, which is phenomenal.
