Chris Paul’s amazing 2018 playoff run (thread)

The 2017/18 Houston Rockets are one of the best teams to never win a championship and their elite backcourt was one of the main reasons behind their success. The Rockets arguably overperformed their expectation in the playoffs before an injury changed everything.

First, Let’s understand CP3’s role on the team. This was very much James Harden’s team. He was the primary ball-handler while Paul still had playmaking duties but as both an on-ball and off-ball creator. Due to some redundancies, Paul and Harden’s minutes were staggered at times.

In the first round, the 1st seeded Rockets were matched up against the Minnesota Timberwolves. A team better than the traditional 8th seed as they were a 4 seed at one point before Jimmy had an injury and now Jimmy was back healthy.

Game 1 was closely contested and Paul had a quiet game until the 4th. In the 4th, the Houston backcourt combined for 17 points and 4 assists on 7/11 shooting (Paul had 6 and 2 on 2/2 FG) to seal the game for the rockets.

In Game 2, Chris Paul made his mark on the series by leading both teams in scoring and assists as he led the rockets to a blowout win with an extremely efficient 27 and 8 in less than 30 minutes. He had a TS% of 68.3% and AST:TO ratio of 8:1.

Game 3 would go in the Timberwolves Favor but Harden and Paul made sure they would take a 3-1 lead back to houston. The Rockets would win in a blowout win after Paul and Harden would combine for 37 points in a 3rd quarter where the Rockets would outscore their opposition 50-20

CP3 would end game 4 with 25 Points, 6 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 5 Steals and just 1 turnover while having a TS% of 66.6%.

The Rockets would go through to the next round in the following game even though their backcourt was pretty inefficient. They would combine for 21 assists however (Harden 12, Paul 9)

In the second round, The rockets faced the Utah Jazz. A top 2 defense in the 2017/18 regular season who also had the DPOY Rudy Gobert. The Jazz were serious challengers especially after they had beaten the thunder in the first round.

After 3 relatively pedestrian games by his standards, Chris Paul turned it up in Game 4. Paul would score a game-high 27 points on decent efficiency and a game-high 6 assists with only 1 turnover.

Heading into game 5 of the series, CP3 found himself in a situation which he had faced before. 3-1 Lead, 2 Games to be played in houston, when has this happened before?

Paul made sure there wasn’t a repeat of 2015 by having an all-time great closeout game, absolutely torching the jazz defense and DPOY Rudy Gobert (in the pnr). Chris Paul’s stats in that game: 41 points (20 in the 4th), 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 0 turnovers, 80.3% TS.

In the 2018 Conference Finals, the Houston rockets faced a familiar foe and the title favourites Golden State Warriors. A 4 all-star team who had a record 24-3 in their last 27 playoff games.

The Warriors would show why they’re the favourites by easily dispatching the Rockets in game 1 despite the Houston backcourt combining for 64 points (Harden 41, Paul 23).

After 2 quiet games in which both teams traded blowout wins, Paul would make his mark on the series in a close game 4. Chris Paul would have 27 points in the game and have 8 points and 2 assists in the 4th as the Rockets went on a 25-12 run in the 4th to tie the series.

In Game 5, Chris Paul had a 20-5-6 statline before having a season-ending league-altering injury in the 4th that would leave us all with many questions and food for thought for years to come. The rockets would win that game but lose the series in 7 to the eventual champions

Chris Paul Stats in the 2018 Playoffs:

21.1 PPG- 5.9 RPG- 5.8 APG- 45.9% FG- 37.4% 3P- 83% FT- 56.5% TS (+1 rTS)- +10.82 Net Rating Swing

Thanks for Reading. Likes and RTs appreciated. And let me know what you think would’ve happened had the CP3 injury never happened.