PHOENIX — This is the second consecutive year. SunsChris Paul, point guard, saw his season end when his team failed to secure a 2-0 series lead. This led to a disappointing postseason exit.
Paul felt the need to declare, for the second year straight, that he does not plan to leave the game in the immediate aftermath.
Paul said after the Suns’ 123-90 loss to the Suns that “you play long enough and don’t win”. Dallas MavericksSunday, Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals. “But I believe for me, it’s us, it’s that we’ll come back next year. That much I will tell you.
Thank God, I’m not retiring tomorrow. I hope to be well when I get back. But I’m [going to]Continue to play.”
Paul’s Suns play was reflected in the way the series ended. He scored 23.5 points per game and only had two turnovers during the first two games. Game 2 saw a stunning 14-point quarter. Phoenix then took a 2-0 lead. He averaged 9.4 points per game and 3.6 turnovers in his five remaining games, which were all played after his 37th birthday. Phoenix lost four of its five games and collapsed in a fashion similar to its NBA finals defeat to the. Milwaukee BucksWhen two wins were followed four losses.
Paul was ineffective on Sunday. He only managed to score 10 points and 4 assists. However, he did not score his first goal until the Suns had lost 40 points in the third quarter. Sources told ESPN that he literally limped to victory, despite a left quad injury that restricted his mobility.
Suns coach Monty Williams was recently named the NBA Coach Of The Year for leading Phoenix to a record 64 wins in the regular season. He also won the No. Paul didn’t accept that.
“I think we just came out and just didn’t have enough,” said Paul after the Suns’ 30-point halftime deficit represented the largest halftime margin in Game 7 history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Mont may have said it, but I believe that it’s me as the point guard and leader of the team. To be there and ensure you get the right shots.
Mavs star Luka DoncicHe was the only one to keep up with Phoenix, scoring 27 points in the opening half to match Phoenix’s total of 27. Dallas was up 57-27 at the break and pushed its lead to as many as 46 points in the fourth quarter — the widest margin in a Game 7 in the last 25 years, according to data compiled by ESPN Stats & Information.
Paul had the worst plus-minus of his 17 year career, with a combined score of 39 against the Suns in his 31-minutes. His teammates were not much better. Devin BookerPaul was Phoenix’s other All-Star. Besides Paul, he scored 11 points on 3-for-14 shots, which is far less than his average 26.5 points per games over the two previous postseasons.
Booker said, “They did an excellent job of getting my ball out of mine and trapping any action I was in.”
Suns big man Deandre AytonFinishing with only five points and four assists, He was pulled at 8:26 in the third period and didn’t return to the game. Williams had spoken with him on the bench.
Williams said, tersely when Williams was asked to explain why Ayton only lasted 17 minutes. That’s the third-fewest amount of time that the former No.1 pick played. He was the No. 1 pick in any of his games.
Jason Kidd, Mavericks’ coach, suggested that the Suns may have felt overwhelmed by the moment in the win/go-home match.
Kidd stated that some of the pressure on Kidd’s team was evident early, as they had missed shots that they are used to making.
Afterward, the Suns made no excuses.
Williams stated that “we basically played our worst match of the season tonight.” I spoke to them about how all year we have been hearing praises for winning every game and setting records, and all the other stuff. It’s been taking it. You have to take it tonight. [too]. This is a part and parcel of manhood.
Phoenix joined the 2006-07 Accord Golden State Warriors2015-16 San Antonio SpursThe third time in league history that a team has won at least 64 games during the regular season, and failed to advance to the conference finals. The 60 combined points the Suns lost Games 6 and 7 by represented the second-largest score difference over Games 6 and 7 of a playoff series, going all the way back to 1962 when the Warriors beat the St. Louis Bombers by 62 over the final two games, per ESPN Stats & Information research.
Booker stated, “It was a good old-fashioned ass-whooping.” “Beginning until the end.”
Paul is now at 3-5 in Game 7s, his worst performance in his entire career. Paul has also lost four games in succession. The 2021-22 Suns are now the poster child for being small in a big moment.
Even as brilliant as Doncic, the Mavs and their Sunday performance was, the Suns were a dominant team throughout the season. They were the only team to rank among the top five defensively and offensively. In 48 minutes, they went from being the first-place team to having one of the worst postseason performances in NBA history.