Chris Paul shows his grit, commitment to Suns teammates in Game 1 victory
By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
Players from both teams formed a circle around Chris Paul as he writhed on the court in pain.
But Paul's mind was elsewhere.
As he clutched his right shoulder and grimaced, Paul was thinking about a four-minute video about Kobe Bryant's work ethic that his trainer had sent him Saturday evening. Bryant's words kept replaying in Paul's mind.
"In the thing, Kobe says, like, ‘Injuries, sometimes you just can’t control them,'" Paul recalled Sunday after the Phoenix Suns' 99-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. "... If there was any way I could play, I was going to."
Paul suffered what was determined to be a right shoulder contusion early in the second quarter while he was in the air trying to defend a put-back attempt by LeBron James. As Paul landed, his arm got tangled around teammate Cameron Johnson's torso, sending him crashing to the floor in pain.
Everyone in his area code descended upon Paul, regardless of the color of their jerseys. The respect Paul commands is ubiquitous. No one studies the game more. No one plays with more heart. No one wants this more.
Even James momentarily shut off his competitive fire and rushed over to his longtime friend, helping Paul to his feet and giving him a hug before Paul slowly walked to the locker room.
It was a tense time for the Suns. Paul is the heartbeat of that team.
But just more than four minutes later, Paul returned to the game, sending the 11,824 fans at Phoenix Suns Arena into a frenzy.
Paul's act of toughness inspired the Suns' win, but the health of his shoulder will ultimately determine the team's success in its first playoff series in 11 years.
Simply put: Without Paul, the Suns don't stand a chance against the defending champions.
"I’ll be all right," he said.
When asked whether he'll be available for Game 2 on Tuesday, Paul didn't hesitate.
"Absolutely," he said.
But he was clearly not himself the rest of Sunday's game.
He repeatedly lost the ball when he drove right. He felt so off that at one point, as Anthony Davis prepared to shoot a pair of free throws, Paul asked the referee to toss him the ball so he could take a few dribbles to loosen up.
Paul finished with seven points on 3-for-8 shooting, with four rebounds and a team-high eight assists, six of which came in the first half.
But his most important contribution didn't show up on the stat sheet: He refused to quit.
Even though Paul is one of the most well-respected players in the NBA, he still feels as though he has something to prove.
Despite making the playoffs in 12 of his 15 years in the league prior to this season, he has never reached the NBA Finals. He came close in 2018, with his Houston Rockets out to a 3-2 series lead over the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals, but then Paul suffered a hamstring injury in Game 5, and the Rockets dropped their next two games without him.
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Heading into this season, most people had counted out the 36-year-old.
He responded by leading the Suns to the second-best record in the league (51-21) while recording one of the most efficient seasons of his career, including shooting 49.9% from the field, 39.5% from beyond the 3-point line and a league-high 93.5% from the free-throw line.
Even though Paul was in pain Sunday, there was no way he wasn't going to play. His grit reverberated with the rest of his team.
"You think about every experience Chris has had, how many games he has played, everything he's accomplished — nobody would've faulted him for not coming back," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "But when he did come back, we could see the emotion on his face. And I thought that drove our guys. I got emotional just watching him battle tonight. I love Chris."
While hobbled, Paul tried to adjust his game.
He was a diversion. He attracted attention. Even though he was injured, nobody felt comfortable taking their eyes off an 11-time All-Star.
"[Suns assistant coach] Willie Green came up to me, he was like, ‘All they took away was your shooting, you know what I mean? So figure out ways to make plays,'" Paul said.
One of those plays drew the ire of Lakers coach Frank Vogel.
After James missed a free throw about three minutes into the fourth quarter, Paul ran behind him and pulled his arm as he tried to grab his own rebound, sending James to the floor, clutching his left shoulder.
"My view was an overly aggressive box-out, a dangerous play where LeBron was in the air and got undercut," Vogel said.
When James was asked whether he thought it was a dangerous play, he didn't engage.
"I’ll be ready for Game 2," said James, who had 18 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists Sunday.
The bigger question is whether Paul will be.
Sure, Devin Booker (34 points) and Deandre Ayton (21 points, 16 rebounds) were phenomenal in their postseason debuts. But without a healthy Paul, the Suns won't go far.
Paul is the one with playoff experience. He's the one who sets the tone. He's the team's motor, its life source.
He's the one who pulled aside the team's young players before the game and told them, "Never get too high, and never get too low."
During the game, he's the one who showed them that he's willing to do anything to help them win.
No matter how painful it might be.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.