Rowan Kavner
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – Chris Paul was named the Western Conference Player of the Week, helping the Clippers win all four of their games while averaging 26 points per game.
Paul also averaged 11.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and two steals last week, posting three double-doubles and scoring at least 30 points two times. He never had more than two turnovers in any of those four games.
Head coach Doc Rivers and Paul’s teammates have said Paul plays so well so consistently that many times he gets taken for granted. Rivers was glad to hear Paul was recognized for the honor.
“I’m actually surprised anyone noticed,” Rivers said. “He’s been doing this for about a month now, and it’s really gone unnoticed, that I know of. Maybe people have been talking about it, but it’s good for him. I don’t care how good you are, it’s still good to be recognized, so that’s nice.”
Paul’s first 30-point game of the week came Wednesday against the Kings, when he also recorded 11 assists and committed just two turnovers. He somehow bettered his stat line in his next game Friday against the Wizards, scoring 30 points, dishing out 15 assists, pulling down six rebounds and stealing a pass while committing just one turnover.
The All-Star point guard capped the week by scoring 23 points and recording 11 assists, seven rebounds and four steals against the Pelicans. For the week, Paul posted an NBA-best plus-71 points while he was on the court.
Those numbers were good enough for Paul to earn Western Conference Player of the Week honors, while Dwyane Wade was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
“Cool,” Paul said. “I think it’s happened before, but I’m honored and privileged.”
For the year, Paul’s averaging the most assists per game in the league for the second straight season and owns the best assist-to-turnover ratio for the third straight season among qualifying players. He’s also the NBA’s top player in offensive win shares (10.2).
Earlier this year, Blake Griffin was named the Western Confernece Player of the Week for also guiding the Clippers to a 4-0 record from Nov. 24-30. With Griffin out for five weeks, that’s when Paul took his game to new levels.
Paul averaged 17.7 points and 9.5 assists before Griffin got hurt. With Griffin out, Paul averaged 20.5 points and dished out 12 assists per game with the Clippers needing enhanced performances from their regulars.
“When someone does something so well for such a long period of time, you almost take it for granted,” J.J. Redick said earlier this month about Paul. “I think that’s been the case a little bit this year. We’ve kind of overlooked how good he is.”
Around the same time, Matt Barnes said Paul’s arguably the best all-around point guard in the game. Last week was just a microcosm of another stellar year for Paul, who’s the only player in the NBA this season averaging at least 18.5 points, 10 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals.