NBA Finals: Chris Paul's turnover barrage, Jrue Holiday's defense and a legacy that should not be at stake
CBSN
Also, it's likely that Paul is playing hurt
As the Phoenix Suns have lost their once-firm grip on these NBA Finals, going from a 2-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks to 2-2 heading home for Game 5 on Saturday, Chris Paul critics are circling and savoring the low-hanging fruit of what could, at a surface-level glance, be construed as another postseason choke job in the making. We all know Paul's playoff history, which has long been unfairly mocked. Yes, he's had some bad moments on big stages. There was Game 5 in a 2-2 series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015, when Paul, in a one-possession game, coughed up two turnovers inside the last 20 seconds en route to the Los Angeles Clippers blowing a seven-point lead inside the final minute. OKC won the game and the series. One year later, the Clippers were up 3-1 on the Houston Rockets with a 19-point lead in the third quarter of Game 6, and they found a way to gag up both the game and the series. Narrative wise, it canceled out Paul's masterful first-round performance against the San Antonio Spurs. All told, Paul's Clippers became the first team in history to lose a series they led at some point in five consecutive postseasons and never advanced past the second round.More Related News
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