On April 18, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued to unfold, and the suns, the first in the league, played at home against the Pelicans. Facing the Pelicans who broke through the play-offs, the Suns showed excellent form from the beginning, taking a 19-point lead in the first half, but failed to establish the victory in one fell swoop in the second half, but narrowed the point gap, but in the last quarter Paul broke out to cut 17 consecutive points to lead the team to victory. In the end, the Suns beat the Pelicans 110-99 to make the opening goal, taking a 1-0 lead.
The Pelicans beat the Spurs and Clippers in the playoffs to advance to the playoffs, but this time facing the Suns, they were completely suppressed by their opponents in the first half, and only scored 34 points in total, thinking that the game lost suspense. But in the second half, the Suns were a little lax, the Pelicans found a feel, a single quarter blast of 37 points, successfully narrowed the point difference to single digits, and the suspense of the game returned. The last quarter became Paul's performance time, scoring 17 consecutive points to help the team open up the point gap again, and the game lost suspense.
After the first three quarters, the Suns' lead was narrowed to just eight points, and when the Pelicans began to fight back like crazy, Paul stepped forward. Facing Nance Jr. through the block, first three-point shots, and then breaking through the layup to score, it is through his own rhythm to get a shot, this time Paul blasted down 17 consecutive points, with his own strength to extinguish the Pelicans burning small flame of reversal.
In the whole game, Paul played 35 minutes, shooting 12 of 16 shots, 4 of 6 three-pointers, 2 of 2 from the free throw line, 30 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals, plus or minus +20 team-high!
This time Paul also set a record, becoming the oldest player in NBA history to cut at least 30 points and 10 assists in the playoffs (36 years and 347 days); the total number of playoff career steals reached 259, surpassing Carl Malone (258) to 15th in history.
Such a hot performance also got a lot of praise, Grizzlies star Morante: "Paul took over the game, he is too cold-blooded! ”
Kuzma also tweeted even more: "CP3 takes over the game! ”
This is what everyone calls the god of point guards, and the last quarter broke out again, showing his energy and leading the team to victory. And after the game, Paul said: "Most of the time I was helping my teammates, making sure they found the feeling of the game, I didn't shoot too much doesn't mean I can't shoot, you know what I mean. It was a good game for us. ”