On an evening in which he made his official home debut, Chris Paul found a way to put together arguably his best performance yet for the Houston Rockets last night.
After making his return to the starting lineup approximately one week ago, Chris Paul has managed to show exactly why he is regarded as one of the game’s best point guards for the Houston Rockets as of late, gliding around the perimeter and getting in the lane to dish out precise lobs to his newest set of cast mates in Clutch City.
Paul followed up his 17-point, six-assist performance against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday with arguably his best outing of the season. He posted a season-high 23 points and 12 assists in 27 minutes to lead the Rockets to a 125-95 victory against the Denver Nuggets in his home debut at the Toyota Center Wednesday night.
"“I take what the defense gives me,” Paul said to reporters following the win on Wednesday.“With the court open like [it is] when you get into the lane, you have options. From passes, to floaters, and whatever’s there.”"
Despite playing limited minutes, Paul proved to be the player that Rockets fans had hoped to see alongside James Harden prior to the season, by setting up his teammates such as Nene and Tarik Black for easy opportunities within the pick-and-roll.
He also served as the lead general for the second unit in the absence of Eric Gordon, helping to ignite the offense and knocking down several shots to put Houston out in front by as many as 50 points in the second half.
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The 32-year-old veteran shot 8-for-11 from the field, nailing four treys from beyond the arc, all the while leaving Nuggets center Nikola Jokic completely discombobulated on multiple occasions after getting caught red-handed against him in a series of defensive switches.
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"“He controls the game,” Harden said, per Dolores A. Lozano of ESPN 97.5 Houston.“He sees things before they happen…it felt good to have somebody out there that controls the game, that can kind of get guys involved, and run the show as well.”"
Since coming back from nursing a bone bruise he suffered in his left knee, Paul has shot at least 42 percent from the field or better in every contest — averaging 17 points and 9.3 assists in just 24.3 minutes per game, and displaying the ability to play quite comfortably with The Beard in head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s offense.
As the player who has managed to make missing a month and returning seamlessly into the flow of things look easy, appears to have his sights set on doing whatever it takes to regain his usual minutes in the lineup within the next few weeks.
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"“It ain’t like I went from the NBA to the NFL,” Paul said to ESPN‘s Tim MacMahon. “I’ve been playing for a while, and I’m playing the same position…I know how to play a little bit.”"
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Paul will continue in his quest to work his way back into tip-top shape this coming weekend, as he seeks to lead the Rockets to their 10th win in the last 11 games against the New York Knicks at home on Saturday.