The Warriors embark on an road trip where they travel to Miami today to take on the Heat. In this game, Butler, Herro, Duncan Robinson, Love and other cores were all absent, and the Warriors did not let the opportunity slip away, and finally in the second half, they defeated the Heat 113-92 and consolidated the 10th place in the West. Paul off the bench played well and he also reached a career milestone. When Paul made 2,600 steals, ranking third all-time, it was only when he realized how inexplicable Stockton was.
Paul continued to serve as a substitute in this game, he played 23 minutes, only made 2 shots in the whole game, did not hit, and finally scored 0. Although he didn't score, Paul still played a big role on the court. He grabbed two rebounds, handed out seven assists, and also had two steals, and was also impressive on the defensive end. As the commander of the second team, Paul did his job well.
After these two steals, Paul's career total of steals has officially reached 2,600. As a veteran, Paul has been playing off the bench this season, playing in 47 games, averaging 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 44% from the field and 38% from three-point range. It can be seen that in addition to the obvious decline in scoring, Paul's organizational skills are still there, and his efficiency is also very high, and his performance is excellent.
Looking at Paul's career, this is his 19th season. He averaged 18 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals per game in his career, and he is also the player who has been crowned the most steal king in history. From the beginning of '08 to the end of '14, Paul won the steal king honor 6 times in his 7 years at his peak, and averaged 2.8 steals per game in his highest season. 2,600 steals, which also proved his strength on the defensive end.
It is worth mentioning that 2,600 steals can be ranked third in NBA history. In front of him, there are also legendary point guards Kidd and Stockton. Kidd's career total steals were 2,684, 84 ahead of Paul. Even if you look at one steal per game, after 80 games, Paul will be able to surpass Kidd. So after another 1-2 seasons, Paul will reach No. 2 in steals all-time, and it's not a big problem.
However, Stockton is more exaggerated, as a legendary point guard around the 90s, Stockton once joined the assist king for 9 consecutive years, and won the steal king 2 times during this period. Although the number of steals is not as good as Paul, he can average 2.2 steals per game in his career, which is not inferior to Paul at all. And he's a super iron man, playing 1,504 games in his 19-year career, you must know that Paul only played 1,260 games in 19 years. Stockton's total steals also reached 3,265, which is 665 ahead of Paul, and even if Paul is allowed to play for another 10 years, he will not be able to surpass Stockton.