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Chris Paul saved the Oklahoma City Thunder season.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter on Monday, the veteran point guard made consecutive triples to tie Game 6 of his first-round series with the Houston Rockets, then hit a pair of free throws to hit OKC. the ultimate advantage in a 104-100 win. The seventh win or go home game is scheduled for Wednesday.
“This is who we are,” Paul told the TNT broadcast afterward. “We are made for things like this. A lot of guys on our team have been expelled, traded or all that, but we stick together and we keep fighting. “
Paul scored 28 points Monday, pushing the team that traded him last summer to the brink. A year after he helped lead the Rockets to Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference finals, Houston traded him, along with four first-round picks, to Oklahoma City for former MVP Russell Westbrook. The move signals a rebuilding for the Thunder, who also sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers last summer, but Paul’s steady hand guided a Thunder team to the playoffs thanks to the strength of his execution in critical situations throughout. year.
Monday was no different. Paul’s 3-pointer gave Oklahoma City a 91-84 lead with 8:11 remaining, but the game seemed to turn in Houston’s favor when a Dennis Schroder layup was rejected and Paul was called for a technical foul. The sequence culminated a 14-1 Rockets run that dug the Thunder a 92-86 hole with 4:19 to play. Paul responded with three in a row, the second of which passed over the open arms of Robert Covington. Paul could be seen patting Covington on the back as they headed the other way.
Westbrook and Schroder traded layups, and then Paul beat Covington on the dribble, scoring a foul to set the stage for lead free throws. A Westbrook loss at the other end and a pair of Danilo Gallinari free throws sealed the deal. Westbrook and his former MVP teammate James Harden finished 1 of 6 from the field with three turnovers, two of which resulted in steals from Paul, in the final four minutes.
said of Paul. “She is incredibly smart. He is a great competitor. He has an incredible will to win. When you have a guy with that kind of mind, manipulating and supervising the court like he does, he did an amazing job. … It was spectacular. ”” Data-reactid = “31”> “He has an incredible IQ in basketball,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said said of Paul. “She is incredibly smart. He is a great competitor. He has an incredible will to win. When you have a guy with that kind of mind, manipulating and supervising the court like he does, he did an amazing job. … It was spectacular “.
Harden had 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but received little help from anyone but Covington (18 points) and weakened down the stretch. Westbrook returned from a quadriceps injury in Game 5, but limped into the locker room midway through the third quarter of Game 6. He returned five minutes later, only to miss four of his last six shots and commit three of his seven turnovers. . Westbrook finished with 17 points.
Game 6 quarter quarter:
Chris Paul: 15 points on 5-7 on shooting, 3-3 on 3, 0 turnovers
Westbrook and Harden: 10 points on shots of 3-11, 1-4 of 3, 3 turnovers
– Royce Young (@royceyoung) September 1, 2020
The Thunder got 25 points from Gallinari, but Paul ran the show. Oklahoma City edged Houston by 20 points with the 35-year-old future Hall of Famer on the court. All other Thunder starters were a net negative.
It should not be overlooked that Paul is the president of the players union, a position that required unprecedented leadership during last week’s strike. Within days, he saved the league season in a hotel lounge and saved it for his team on the field at AdventHealth Arena. After Monday’s game, Paul credited the players for their professionalism in the face of injustices outside of the Orlando bubble.
Now Game 7 comes down to Paul and Harden, the two former teammates whose “insurmountable” relationship led to last summer’s trade. Both will enter with a reputation for failing to live up to playoff expectations, which culminated in last year’s six-game loss to a Golden State Warriors team beaten by Kevin Durant.
The Rockets entered the playoffs with title aspirations. The Thunder were seen as a stepping stone to Houston’s Western Conference semifinal meeting with the top seeds, the Los Angeles Lakers, but Paul had other plans. His clutch game Monday calmed critics, but Game 7 may change the narrative entirely.
Paul screamed following its heroic turn. “Game 7, anything can happen.” “Data-reactid =” 39 “>” We gave ourselves a chance “, Paul screamed following its heroic turn. “Game 7, anything can happen.”
Follow @brohrbach“data-reactid =” 41 “> Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @brohrbach
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