'So many open shots': CP3 closes strong vs. Clips

LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul took a seat next to Kevin Durant after the Phoenix Suns grabbed a commanding 3-1 series lead over the LA Clippers on Saturday afternoon with a 112-100 win at Crypto.com Arena and took stock of his new place in the NBA landscape.

“I’ve never played with this much talent,” Paul said after scoring 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win. “Where people are doubling off of me … I’ve never seen so many open shots.”

Paul almost didn’t know what to do with all those open looks in Game 3 on Thursday, when he finished just 5-for-18 from the field.

“It’s something that I’m getting used to,” he said. “Trying to figure out when to pick your spots, when to be aggressive. We’re figuring this thing out on the fly. I’m just happy that a few of them fell tonight.”

On Saturday, Paul hit 8-of-17 from the field and dished out nine assists. He also had three steals and three blocks for the first time in his career. And after the Suns turned the ball over on three straight possessions and gave up seven straight points in the first minute of the second half, it was Paul who lit into his teammates on the bench.

“I think the way the third quarter started, I was pissed. We all was,” Paul said. “We were on the bench sort of going at each other. But it’s healthy. Just trying to get us going. I tried to get myself going defensively. The shots, they’re going to come.”

Paul had some of his best games as a professional in this building, hitting six go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in his six seasons with the Clippers (2011-17). Since then, he has played for three different franchises. This season’s Suns might just be his best, last chance at an NBA title.

Phoenix is regarded as one of the favorites to come out of the Western Conference since it traded for Durant in February. Its biggest weakness is just a lack of depth from having to surrender so many key rotation players in the trade to acquire Durant. That has forced Durant, Devin Booker and the soon-to-be-38-year-old Paul to play much heavier minutes than coach Monty Williams would prefer this early in the playoffs.

Durant logged 45 minutes on Saturday, Booker 42 and Paul 38. Durant and Booker are both averaging more than 43 minutes per game in the playoffs, eight more than they did in the regular season. No other NBA player is averaging more than 40.2 minutes per game so far in the postseason, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

“I think it’s something we are concerned about as it piles up,” Williams said. “Looking at the way the way the schedule is set up, playing every other day is not conducive to it. Part of why I did it today is we have a couple days to recover. But when you’re playing every other day in the playoffs, I’m like, ‘There goes load management.'”

Williams said that he checks in with his stars regularly throughout the game and watches them closely to read their body language, even when they tell him they feel fine.

“When I talk to our people and they talk about how our guys are running around, it’s not like the regular season. We’re not playing at that pace,” he added. “So the load can be a bit different with the minutes the guys have played.”

Durant scoffed when asked about the heavy load he has been carrying. Saturday’s contest was the 13th straight playoff game he has registered at least 40 minutes.

“How’d I look tonight?” he said with a smirk after scoring a team-high 31 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. “I felt great. I missed a lot of time this season. I want to be out there every minute. I wish I could play 48 every game.”

This series appeared to be a fight as Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers to a split on the road in the first two games. But with Leonard out with a knee injury, LA lost both games at home despite a throwback effort from Durant’s former teammate Russell Westbrook (37 points) on Saturday.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Phoenix.