Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul, 3, pits Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Saturday, Feb.20, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee (AP Photo / Brandon Dill)
Having Chris Paul on your squad can help you achieve victories like Friday’s surprise fourth-quarter explosion for the Phoenix Suns.
It could also enable cakewalks like Saturday’s 128-97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Now that Paul has found his elite form in recent weeks, there is a certain level of play that the Suns will get almost every night. With Phoenix’s talent around Paul, following the point guard will yield great results.
Saturday meant that a gritty Grizzlies team was nowhere near a chance to win.
Head coach Monty Williams praised his team’s focus in handling cases.
“Those are the types of games where you can lose your beat,” he said. ‘When they have that many guys you can mess with the game, and we didn’t tonight.
“I came on a timeout and was just grateful for the way we played in the fourth quarter because that’s a time when you can get in the game and take bad pictures, I have to call a timeout to get us back to where we need to be and we didn’t have to do that tonight. “
Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins met his staff Friday night after a win over the Detroit Pistons and tried to go through all the necessary precautions during his rotation. That’s because the Grizzlies played their fourth game in five nights and the fifth game in seven nights against Phoenix on Saturday.
As Memphis has dealt with injuries and COVID-19-related absences before, it had to sit a few players against Phoenix to be safe. That was guard Grayson Allen, attacker Kyle Anderson and big man Brandon Clarke. Because the Grizzlies are already starters Dillon Brooks and Jaren Jackson Jr. missed, they left their rotation decimated.
Not a good idea with the Point God in town.
It really never gets old to watch Paul take control of a game. He got offensive rolling in the first quarter and it was fixed from there.
Paul made all five shots in the first half for 13 points. As a whole, he only had 16 points and six assists, a testament to his excellence that he can do just that with a stat line suggesting anything but precise manipulation of the opposition.
The Suns had a 10-minute double-digit lead and stayed above 15 for most of the second quarter, and things only got worse from then on.
The Suns played a good defense against the bad Grizzlies offense. Memphis looked half-decent, but never fell. Like the Suns’ victory over the Orlando Magic earlier in February, it seemed the Grizzlies weren’t quite there due to the number of guys they missed.
The Grizzlies missed 16 straight three-pointers to open the game.
By the time they made Attempt # 17, the Suns were up 25 with 41.4 seconds left in the first half.
Phoenix sailed all the way. The Grizzlies didn’t have enough battle left after the Suns knocked them off the jump. A halftime advantage of 31 points for Suns was only reduced to 26 points in the second half.
This game wasn’t going to be heavily controversial in any way, but it didn’t help that the Suns also set a franchise record of 24 three-pointers.
In such an open game, a few players could score a beat. Devin Booker had a game high of 23 with Mikal Bridges, Cam Payne and Dario Saric contributing 19 points.
Memphis finished 5-of-33 (15.2%) from a three-point range. The Suns had 35 assists for just nine turnovers.
Viewers of the Suns will often be reminded of Paul’s greatness this season. In addition to his impact in the last two wins, there is also the fact that on Saturday he passed Oscar-freaking Robertson on the all-time assists leaderboard and moved up to sixth place.
Everyone on the Suns doesn’t take it for granted.
“For me we won a big game, but I’m just blown away to be a part of that with him,” Williams said of Paul’s performance. “When you think of the name Oscar Robertson, it’s unreal that Chris plays the way he plays … I just think that’s great and a blessing, and I feel so honored and humbled to be a part of this team when he played it. did. “
Booker made sure to get the game ball for Paul so the team could present it later, a ball that Paul was still holding as he spoke to the media.
“It’s kind of hard to put it into words, being a fan of the game for so long and a fan of his for so long – now it’s incredible to take the field with him,” said Booker.
“It really means everything,” he added, handing Paul the ball. ‘Just being part of history, man – that’s Chris Paul there. I say it every day. I call him by his first and last name, because that’s how I grew up saying it. “
Booker said, “It’s no mistake” that Paul is just as excellent as a basketball player, having now seen Paul’s day-to-day work for the past few months.
That special mentality Paul had was reflected when asked if he would try to hit Magic Johnson – No. 5 – next on the scoreboard this season.
“I’m trying to pile up wins,” said Paul with a grin.