2011 NBA Playoffs: Chris Paul Still Has It as Hornets School Lakers in Game 1
Chris Paul had Pau Gasol on roller skates and Derek Fisher in wet cement. The New Orleans Hornets point guard, who has lost a step following knee surgery last year, dominated this duo and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers to prove he is still one of the NBA’s top point guards.
The 25-year-old face of the Hornets franchise had 33 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and four steals, playing nearly flawless basketball and toying with the aforementioned pair of Lakers in the process to win Game 1.
Behind him, New Orleans controlled the first half, and backed by a tremendously efficient bench they weathered a third quarter rally by Los Angeles to lead by three entering the final period.
He wasn’t about to let his team fall like the Indiana Pacers did against the Chicago Bulls. The Pacers led for most of the game, only to crumble late at the hands of Derrick Rose. This season’s performance by Paul, though solid statistically, wasn’t on par with Rose’s. Today, he was on Rose’s level, repeatedly taking advantage of Los Angeles’s continuous defensive switches.
His basketball clinic officially began with just over five minutes remaining, with his Hornets up 90-87. Before he would get going, Kobe Bryant, an excellent defender when he dedicates himself, took his assignment for one possession and forced an errant pass. More Bryant on Paul would have been ideal for the Lakers, but he didn’t guard him again. Drawing both Gasol and Fisher instead, Paul went crazy.
If Gasol, 7-feet tall, was forced to guard him, Paul would just cross him up, figuratively breaking his ankles and buckling his knees in the process. His overwhelming treatment of Gasol resulted in mid-range jumpers, smartly taking the space the center gave him rather than deal with his length on drives.
Who he did drive against was Fisher. It didn’t appear to be altogether difficult either. Fisher does a lot of good things for Los Angeles, but he was in quicksand against Paul, as the former Most Valuable Player candidate blew by him and softly drained floaters over the Lakers' length inside. His play was unbelievable, and a sight for sore eyes to fans who have seen him regress the past couple seasons due to an array of injures.
For one game he was back to being the best point guard in the NBA—the title he unquestionably held for the first four seasons of his career. While he dealt with a left ankle and left knee injury, the latter needing surgery to repair cartilage, he was replaced atop the point guard pedestal. Worse yet, he didn’t have the 2010-2011 season he expected.
“I struggled all season long,” Paul said, as documented by Sports Illustrated. He did hardly that, averaging 16 points on 46 percent shooting, eight assists and four rebounds per game, but he wasn’t the the jaw-dropping Paul of old. He was that player against Los Angeles, however, stepping up when his undermanned team needed him most.
“It’s the playoffs, man,” he said, as reported by the LA Times. “It’s another energy, a whole ‘nother thing.”
It’s true, and did he ever prove that with 17 fourth quarter points, 13 of which came over the final five minutes. When basketball academies are held for kids aspiring to one day reach the NBA, the tape of those five minutes needs to be in the VCR. That’s how special his dissection of Los Angeles was, and how influential it can be.
Who knows if New Orleans can build off this win. Missing leading scorer David West, who went down with a season-ending knee injury last month, could catch up to them. And the sprained ankle suffered in the closing minutes by vastly important center Aaron Gray could be more severe than the Hornets let on.
Yet they have Chris Paul, translating to more than just a fighting chance. He’s back and can do this again and again. If he does, more wins are on the horizon for the underdog.
