On December 15, Beijing time, the Suns challenged the Blazers back-to-back, Ayton returned, Booker continued to truce, and finally the Suns narrowly defeated the Blazers 111-107 after overtime to avoid losing streak. Paul recovered in form and once again showed his big heart at a critical moment, becoming the hero of the Suns' victory.
In the final moments of the fourth quarter, the Suns trailed and Paul hit two consecutive difficult mid-range equalizers to successfully drag the game into overtime. In overtime, the Blazers scored 2 points first, CP3 again hard to pull the mid-range, and then Cameron Johnson scored a counter-three-pointer, and Payne killed the game with two free throws. In the whole game, Paul played 41 minutes, 10 of 19 efficiently cut 24 points, 8 boards, 14 assists and 3 steals, and Ayton also cut 28 points and 13 boards on 12 of 17, scoring a new season high. According to ESPN, Paul had nine assists for Ayton today, the first time since December 2014 that he has delivered at least nine assists to the same teammate in a single game, the last time to Griffin.
Of course, Paul's most impressive performance today is his performance at key moments, according to the statistics of the US media statmuse, this season in the key period, that is, the time period when the score difference of 5 points in the last 5 minutes of the game, Paul shot a total of 23 shots and 14 goals, and the 60.9% shooting rate is the highest of all players in the league at key moments! And gave up 15 assists and only 3 turnovers. In addition, Paul scored a total of 60 points against his opponents in the key period, which is also the highest of all players in the league!
Yesterday against the Clippers, Paul scored just nine points on 4-of-14 slump, and today, with back-to-back play, CP3 recovered in time to play his signature game again, which is the ability of the superstar to adjust.