Although he still played all-star — after all, it was the 75th anniversary of the NBA, after all, he was almost 37 years old, and any All-Star could be his last, and he was still playing with Coach Monty — Chris Paul had a hand injury.
It takes six to eight weeks to "re-evaluate."
The season is over with seven weeks to go.
Paul's entire career has been plagued by injuries.
A knee injury in the 2009-10 season indirectly ended the Hornets' golden hour; when the 2016 playoffs arrived, he was injured and hated the first round. The 2018 Western Conference Finals were just one game away from the Finals when he injured his thigh. Last season's playoffs were also played with injuries.
So far this season, he has not lacked. Almost 37 years old, the assist king, averaging the highest 33 minutes per game since 2015. Sun Alliance number one. It went so smoothly that it was just unbelievable.
So now, it hurts...
Fate finally did not let him go.
To put it another way, this is slightly better than the injuries in 2016 and 2018.
In 2016 and 2018, Paul was injured in the playoffs. This year is a high probability of missing the rest of the regular season, but the playoffs are still catching up. I can even rest and play the playoffs.
The Suns are not short of attacking firepower, and Paul's main task is to hold the ball to condition. Both Payne and Payton could hold on.
The Suns are now number one in the league, 6.5 games ahead of the Warriors. With 24 games left, the situation is fine and Paul can afford to recover from injuries.
After all, in the park in 2020, without Paul, the Sun's record is not bad.
The worst-case scenario is that the Suns don't have Paul in the first round of the playoffs. But if paul can get through the first round and come back healthy and lively to play the playoffs, that's not bad.
Also, he played 58 games this season, just enough: If the season ends and no one averages more than him with 10.7 assists per game — look at Harden's performance in Philadelphia — Paul can still collect his fifth assist.
The 37-year-old assist king should be a record - LeBron was almost 36 years old when he won that assist king in 2020, evergreen trees like Stockton, and the last assist king was 34 years old.
The last time there was a similar scenario was in 2014:
Paul played only 62 games with injuries that year, but when he returned from the playoffs, the Clippers passed the Warriors in the playoffs — the last playoff first round of Curry's career.
After Paul was injured that year, Griffin took over and played his best season of his career, and even ranked third in the MVP vote in the regular season, behind Durant and LeBron.
Now, Booker has this opportunity too:
If Paul can take over and play explosive performances during his injury, it is always okay to enter the annual team for the first time in his career.
After all, the most recent MVP ladder, the defenders in front of Booker, are only DeRozan (although he counts as a striker in the Bulls), Luca, Morant, Curry and Paul.
Speaking of which, it is inevitable to mention other people...
At the moment the Suns are 48 wins and 10 losses. The Warriors lost 42-17. The Grizzlies are 41-19.
If the previous win rate is maintained, the Warriors and Grizzlies will probably end with 60 wins and 58 wins.
The Suns only need to get a 50% win rate in the remaining 24 games to continue to be the first in the league.
The first place is probably still stable, unless there are other accidents.
But now the interesting situation is...
In the first month of the season, Curry was the well-deserved MVP frontrunner. At that time, his personal data was not scary compared to Jokic and Giannis, but the Warriors' record of leading the league, and his once leading the league's scores, greatly reflected his influence.
When the Suns' record surpassed that of the Warriors, Curry's advantage disappeared: Paul's data is not better than Curry's, but he can be at the top of the MVP ladder because of the league's top spot + assist king.
The league top spot is important.
Now the Warriors are 6.5 wins away from the Suns. It's hard to chase, but it's not impossible to chase.
In particular, if the Suns' next game shows a momentum of stumbling, the Warriors can put pressure on the Suns.
If the Suns are in ups and downs and the Warriors go on and catch up with the Suns — though it's difficult — they can gain home-court advantage in the playoffs and reinvent Curry's MVP.
For Curry, who has just won the All-Star MVP, he is back in the focus of the league. Today's 16 three-pointers and eight three-pointers against the Clippers a week ago (the highest in a single game this year) could also mean a resurgence in feel.
If the league's top record is given at this time, Curry has a big advantage in the MVP selection - Giannis, Jokic and Embiid's personal data are spectacular, but the team is estimated to be unable to catch up with the sun.
If Kerr continues the strategy after 2017, that is, "anyway, 73 wins have also taken us, we don't ask this everyone to play steadily and slowly polish the playoffs", the Warriors are also willing to be second in the West, it does not mean that the wind and waves are calm...
If the Warriors grabbed the league top spot, it would be a big help for Curry to compete for MVP; then when the Grizzlies grabbed the league top spot, Morant would almost certainly take the MVP.
He's young, fresh, and doesn't suffer from voting aesthetic fatigue — "Ah that so-and-so superstar has already won the MVP, then don't vote for him" — the data is amazing, "the Grizzlies hit the league first", and the topic is full of topics, and no one in the team shares votes with him - Bane and Jaren are good, but they are not stars after all.
Rush or not rush? Then it's up to the Grizzlies and Warriors themselves.
Curry and the Warriors probably care less about MVP (than the championship hopes), but the Grizzlies are young, lean, tireless, and don't have the old team tradition of "we're going to raise a playoff."
Another angle.
At the moment, seventh through ninth in the West are timberwolves, Clippers, Lakers and Trailblazers.
There is still no news of Leonard's comeback, although he still said today that he "feels better"; there is also news in Los Angeles that George's comeback schedule depends on the situation.
Suppose a very small possibility:
For example, Leonard + George came back together, had George + Leonard's Clippers, and met the Sun without Paul in the first round... The situation seems a little delicate?
Davis will come back in four weeks, and if the Lakers are not left behind by then, although there are such and such problems, it is ultimately the lineup of LeBron + Davis.
It's time to play in the playoffs, and God knows what's going to happen.
Think about it in reverse, if you were a Clippers/Lakers/Timberwolves, would you rather meet an all-healthy Warrior in the first round, or a Sun (probably without Healthy Paul's)?
So, probably, that's it:
Paul's injury affected the Suns and Monty coaches, and affected Booker and Payne.
Morant, DeRozan (if he counts defenders) and Booker all have the capital to impact the annual squad – Curry will most likely lock up another first-team defender spot.
Curry and Morant have the MVP hope of Xi Wei — if they can catch up with the sun. The same applies to DeRozan: although the bull catches up with the sun, it is too difficult...
The Los Angeles Twins and Timberwolves may have to adjust their status depending on the Suns' next record.
And harden can get his second assist king as long as he averages 11.8 assists per game in the next 24 games.
The butterfly's wings moved, though very subtlely.
But the west, which was already clear, was about to move again.