Having endured a day’s worth of jokes and Internet memes, Chris Paul reminded the hoops world of who he is Wednesday night, dropping in a season-high 41 points and handing out 17 dimes (with just a single turnover) in the LA Clippers’ 126-122 road win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
There was a brief third quarter skirmish triggered by Paul and Blazers center Chris Kaman, but cooler heads eventually prevailed.
The Clips roared back from a 19-point deficit, and it was CP3 who led the team’s biggest rally of the season.
Per the LA Times:
“It was a very, very good win for us, clearly, one of the better ones if not the best one of the year,” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said of his team, which was playing for the second time in two days after returning from an East Coast trip. […] Paul coolly made four free throws in the final 8.5 seconds to deny the Trail Blazers a chance to clinch the Northwest Division.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer celebrated the victory in the locker room afterward. […] “Any time he said he can beat Paul Allen is always a plus,” Clippers forward Matt Barnes said, referring to the Trail Blazers owner, who is close friends with Ballmer. “So it’s going to be an interesting first round if this is who we end up playing.”
“I was real surprised,” Paul said of the contact from Kaman. “I sort of know Kaman pretty well. … It’s all good, though. No hard feelings.”
