Getty Chris Paul and Monty Williams, Phoenix Suns
Chris Paul, clearly, was not himself in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, a loss to the Bucks that saw the Suns squander a chance to go up, 3-1, in the series behind 42 points from Devin Booker. Paul scored 10 points and committed five turnovers, including a devastating fumble with 32 seconds to play that led to a fast-break bucket for Milwaukee and sealed the game.
Paul took the blame after the game, in which the Suns committed 17 total turnovers.
“It was me, I had five of them,” he said. “It was bad decision-making. That time we were down two and I tried to cross over right there, slipped, turned it over. I had some bad passes in the first half. They got a significant amount more shots than us, so for me I got to take care of the ball. We got 17 turnovers, we shoot the ball too well not to have those opportunities to score.”
But one Phoenix columnist speculates that something bigger is wrong with Paul than just bad decisions. The headline for Greg Moore’s column at AZCentral.com says it all: “I think Chris Paul is hiding an injury, and it’s jeopardizing the Suns’ title run.”
Remember All Chris Paul’s Brilliant Performances?
It is true that Paul was injured during the NBA’s Western Conference finals, when he played through torn ligaments in his hand. Moore suggests that the injury is still bothering Paul and, he writes, “If he’s hurt, he needs to hand the ball to reserve guard Cameron Payne and become the best assistant coach the NBA has ever seen. Paul has to be mature enough to know when he’s the problem and strong enough to be the solution.”
That would be a sensible hypothesis, except that there is a ream of evidence to suggest it’s a bit crazy. That evidence is the way Paul has played in just about every game of the last two rounds of the playoffs except Game 4.
Remember Game 1 of the Finals? Paul had 32 points on 12-for-19 shooting. How about Game 2? Paul was pretty good then, too, with 23 points on 10-for-20 shooting. He was 7-for-12 shooting from the 3-point line in those two games.
Or how about what he accomplished in Game 6 of the conference finals, which he played with those same ligament problems in his hand? He had 41 points that night, of course, making 16 of his 24 shots including 7-for-8 shooting from the 3-point line.
Chris Paul pulls up from distance to give him the Suns last 8 points in the 3rd quarter!
@Suns 97
@LAClippers 83
4th quarter of Game 6 coming up on ESPN
And the Suns are supposed to bench Paul because, suddenly, his hand injury is too much?
Monty Williams on Chris Paul: ‘He’s Fine’
Fortunately, coach Monty Williams put no stock into the idea that maybe something is wrong with Paul physically. He had a bad game in Game 4 and is ready to move on to Game 5.
“He’s fine,” Williams said. “Great players have games like that. We expect him to bounce back. He had five [turnovers], but we had 17 and they scored 24 points, you know what I mean? That was pretty much the game right there. Then you double that up with the offensive rebounding, so it wasn’t just Chris. As a team tonight, we got to take better care of the ball.”