Booker's hamstring injury is uncertain, the second game of the series lost, home advantage was taken away by the Pelicans... The Phoenix Suns' dream of winning the title seems to have come close to shattering, and Paul's cursed career seems to be continuing.
But now it is only the first round of the playoffs, the First In the West, even if it loses its strongest offensive firepower, it will not be firmly suppressed by the playoff team, Paul achieved a state rebound in the third game of the series, he shot 28 points, 4 rebounds and 14 assists with an efficient shooting rate of 10 of 18, and 0 turnovers in two consecutive games! Again, the questioning was responded to.
Throughout the game, it can be found that in the absence of Booker, Paul almost used his personal ability to run through the entire team system, the first quarter of the game he first used the pass to drive his teammates, with the help of blocking tactics, Ayton, who scored only 10 points in the last 6-shot 4, scored consecutive points, and then Paul also defended Ingram one-on-one on the defensive end, and forced the latter's back-up shot.
When the Suns passed the tug-of-war after the opening, the second quarter gradually took the initiative, when Paul's feeding object changed from Ayton to McGee, and his tight defense made McCollum have a pass error, and then the steal launched a quick attack to assist Shamet flying dunk, at this time the Suns have achieved a rebound, the single quarter to 31-19 net 12 points, setting the tone for winning.
And Paul's most amazing performance is still at the key moment of the final quarter, watching the Pelicans close to the point difference, the Sun is once again in the downwind, he finally entered the personal offensive mode, facing the defense of different players such as McCollum, Ingram, Jones and Varan, Paul scored 7 mid-range jumpers in a row, and even the commentary could not help but sigh, he regarded himself as Booker, carrying the team's attack.
So what do we all see? With accurate passing, a strong defense, a steady shot and no mistakes, Paul of this game is definitely qualified to be called the "god of point guards", and there is nothing wrong with him.
After three games, Paul's average data came to 25.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 12.7 assists, the three main shooting rates were 54.0% + 38.9% + 93.3%, only 0.67 turnovers, except for the first game 2 turnovers, the rest of the time are all in the "immune state", without Booker, he is the insurance and hope of the entire Phoenix.
How else can we ask Paul at this point? His career is indeed very sad, in 2008 the second round was reversed by the Spurs 0-2, in the second round by the Rockets 1-3 in 2015, in the 2018 Western Conference Finals by the Warriors 2-3 reversal, last season's Finals was reversed by the Bucks 0-3, all the playoffs can think of out of the way he has experienced, there is nothing to completely crush him.
This season's Suns are strong, the inside defensive gate, the outside scorer, the front line 3D all have, they played a record of 64 wins and 18 losses in the history of the team, the 37-year-old Paul finally has the best chance to win the championship, but Booker's accidental injury broke all hopes, Paul's "lone star" attribute is really helpless.
But then again, why does Paul rely on his teammates to achieve his goals every time? If in 2018 he could not personally lead the team to advance because of a leg strain, then now that he has no injuries himself, why can't he rely on his own strength to lead the team to win? Isn't the perfect performance in the third game that Paul is declaring war on the cursed fate? He will break the so-called curse with his own hands, change his life against the sky by his own experience and ability, and only he can untie the knot of his fate.
Objectively speaking, Paul still has the peak of dominance in terms of ability and technology, the only thing he needs to pay attention to is to ensure that this old body that has been fighting for many years is not injured and invaded, if he can take this sun to the end to lift the championship trophy, then its historical position will definitely catch up with Nowitzki, who led the Mavericks to the top in 2011.