Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – A closer game would’ve likely meant a triple-double for Chris Paul.
Paul had 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds through three quarters Saturday against the 76ers and watched the rest of a comfortable win from the bench with the rest of the starters.
Head coach Doc Rivers said he would hope at this stage of his career, Paul wouldn’t care much about triple-doubles. So, did it matter to Paul?
“Lord no,” Paul said. “Any time I can sit a full quarter, I’m with it. I’ll sit.”
Paul said he didn’t know how close he was to the triple-double until J.J. Redick informed him on the bench. Rivers didn’t know at all.
“No one told me,” Rivers said. “He’s going to be in the Hall of Fame, regardless.”
Paul already had 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds at halftime, at which point the Clippers had already scored 62 points and dished out 17 assists as a team.
Despite the high scoring output, the game wasn’t always out of reach for the 76ers. But Paul made sure the Clippers would end any hopes Philadelphia had of pulling off an upset.
Paul hit eight of the Clippers’ final 10 points of the half, as the 76ers began to pull closer and cut the Clippers’ lead to six. The only two points Paul didn’t score came on an assist he through for an alley-oop dunk to Jordan.
“Maurice Cheeks always did that as a player, for all you older people,” Rivers said. “The point guard has the ability to stop runs sometimes. I thought CP just basically did that.”
Paul led the Clippers in points and assists and finished second in rebounds, while going a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line, chipping in with two steals and only committing one turnover.
When the 76ers cut the lead to six in the third quarter, Paul brought it back up to eight with a bucket. That was part of an 8-0 run that helped sealed the win for a Clippers team that finally got some rest. Paul said the time off helped, and that was evident in both his game and the Clippers’ game Saturday night.
“We felt like we had our legs under us a little bit more,” Paul said. “Sometimes you’ve got to miss each other, miss the gym. I think that’s what happened. We couldn’t wait to get out here and play today.”
