National Basketball Association

Chris Paul leads Phoenix Suns to NBA Finals with masterful performance

Updated Jul. 30, 2021 8:22 a.m. ET

By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer

Chris Paul wrapped his arms around Monty Williams and wept.

There was so much flashing through his mind, so many things that could've derailed everything.

In the best moment of his career, he couldn't help but think about all of the things that could've robbed him of it.

There was the right shoulder injury Paul suffered in the first round of the playoffs against the defending champion Lakers. There was the positive COVID-19 test he received after beating the Nuggets in the second round which led to the health and safety protocols that sidelined him for two games of the Western Conference Finals.

But this time, nothing got in his way.

Paul had reached the NBA Finals for the first time in his career with a spectacular, 41-point and eight-assist performance in the Phoenix Suns' 130-103 win over the LA Clippers on Wednesday.

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It had taken him 16 seasons and 36 years to shatter that ceiling, but Paul had finally reached the elusive stage that will feature the top two teams in the world.

He had been close to this moment before.

Paul distinctly remembers the disappointment he felt during the 2018 Western Conference finals when his then-Houston Rockets blew a 3-2 series lead against the eventual champion Golden State Warriors after he suffered a hamstring injury.

He's still haunted by Rockets T-shirts that were emblazoned with the words "Western Conference Champions" that he never got to wear, tangible reminders of a dream never realized.

"I never got a chance to get it," Paul said of the T-shirt. "I never forget that. Never forget that."

Paul did everything in his power to make sure that didn't happen again.

After the Clippers went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter to cut their deficit from 17 points to seven, Paul responded with an 8-0 run of his own, making a layup, a 3-pointer and free throws to keep the game out of the Clippers' grasp.

Paul scored 31 points on 12-for-16 shooting in the second half. Even after he turned the game into a blowout, he refused to take his foot off the gas.

"I kept asking him in the fourth quarter, can you taste that?" said Jae Crowder, who had 19 points and five rebounds. "Can you taste it? He's like, ‘No. No.’"

Paul kept sinking 3-pointers. He kept attacking the middle and draining his silky midrange shot. He kept driving past hapless Clippers defenders, who felt their season slipping away at the hands of a player who had been widely dismissed as past his prime.

The frustration built for the Clippers until it reached a crescendo midway through the fourth quarter, when Patrick Beverley shoved Paul with two arms from behind as he walked toward the Suns bench, sending him crashing to the floor.

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For Crowder, that flagrant play was the ultimate sign of success. "We know we broke them," he said. So, he turned to Paul again, with just under 5 minutes left and the Suns up by 21 points, and tried his question again.

"You taste that?" Crowder asked. "'No.' He goes back out, bang, hit the top-of-the-key three. I'm like, all right, he's still feeling it."

It wasn't until Paul was about to be subbed out of the game, with 2 minutes remaining, that he eventually turned to Crowder and uttered the words he'd been waiting to hear.

"I taste it now," Paul said. "I taste it now."

There was some irony in the fact that the biggest milestone of Paul's career happened against the Clippers, whom he played for from 2011-2017. For six seasons, he tried to carry them past the second round of the playoffs, but never succeeded.

Paul was finally celebrating reaching the NBA Finals in Los Angeles, only he was wearing the opposing team's uniform.

"This is like a storybook," Paul said. "...Getting to somewhere that I've never been before, (beating) a team that I will always be connected to."

Paul helped transform the Suns from a team that had the worst record in the Western Conference in 2018-2019 into a team that reached the NBA Finals for the first time in nearly three decades.

When Paul eventually hugged Williams, the emotions came pouring out.

Williams, however, was dry-eyed. His tears were shed earlier that afternoon, when he had a sentimental conversation with assistant coach Randy Ayers about how close they were to the championship round.

"I understood the emotions that Chris was dealing with," Williams said. "I just ran out of tears. I used all mine up about 2:30, 3 o'clock today."

In the locker room after the game, there was dancing, crying and hugging.

The Suns wanted to win for Paul, the player with the most All-Star and All-NBA selections who hadn't reached the Finals. They wanted to get him past the hump. But they insisted he didn't need this to be a legend.

"Chris Paul is stamped regardless," said Devin Booker, who had 22 points and seven rebounds. "Anything else from here is extra. It's extra, just to solidify."

This much is for sure: Paul desperately wanted this.

And he used everything he learned over the last 16 years to get it, both physically and mentally.

When the Clippers made a push in the third quarter, he resisted the urge to overreact, something he acknowledges he may have done earlier in his career when his leadership style was less seasoned.

"Some years ago, I would have jumped up and been yelling over there on the bench and whatnot," he said. "... You learn how to deal with different guys and if you go crazy like that, that might make them a little bit nervous or gun shy."

Instead, he remained calm and cool, leading his teammates by example, scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter.

During that time, Paul had just one thing on his mind.

"Jay [Gaspar], our equipment guy here, texted me a couple days ago and said, ‘C, I got the T-shirt and the hat, all you got to do is do your part,’" Paul said. "So that's the only thing that I was thinking about, is the process."

Paul finally did it.

As he talked to reporters, while wearing his conference champion T-shirt, Booker interrupted his press conference to place the trophy on the empty seat next to him.

Paul didn't need to say a word.

Instead, he just beamed a smile that was 36 years in the making.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.