Seven Pelicans players reached double figures in scoring, but none were able to stop Chris Paul on his historic night at New Orleans Arena.
The 36-year-old Suns point guard (one week after turning 37), scored 33 points without fail, with 14 of 14 shooting from the field and 4 of 4 free throws, in the 115-109 victory with the that Phoenix closed the series (4-2) and reached the semifinal of the Western Conference.
A perfect service record (with eight rebounds and five assists), unprecedented in an
NBA
playoffs .
The legendary Wilt Chamberlain has the record without a mistake in the regular season, with 18 of 18 and also completed a 16 of 16 and 15 of 15 in regular phase games.
Paul's extraordinary performance overshadowed the return of Devin Booker, who injured his hamstring on April 19 (in the second game after scoring 31 points) and returned to play (32 minutes on court) just nine days later ( when the Suns had budgeted two to three weeks off);
and the solid support of Mikal Bridges (18 points) and DeAndre Ayton (22 points, seven rebounds and four assists).
The defensive boiling of Jose Alvarado could do nothing this time against a masterful Chris Paul who closes the tie against the Pelicans with 68 assists, nine turnovers, 11 steals and 134 points.
The Suns, leaders of the West with a balance of 64 wins and 18 losses, are already in the semifinals where they will face Doncic's Mavericks.
CHRIS PAUL đ±
14/14 TC
13/13 T2
1/1 T3
4/4 TL
33 POINTS already SEMIS đ„ pic.twitter.com/MwgYBEI3wn
â NBA Spain (@NBAspain) April 29, 2022
The Dallas franchise returns to the conference semifinals 11 years later, after losing up to six times in the first round.
Territory that they had not stepped on since 2011, when the group governed by Dirk Nowitzki ended up taking the ring.
A 98-96 road win over Utah sealed the Mavericks' first round advancement without their totem pole and first win in a
playoff series
of the NBA for Doncic.
The Slovenian star, with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Jalen Brunson (24 points, three rebounds and two assists) were the reference for some Mavericks who in the second half polished their aim from the perimeter with a 14 of 25 in triples.
Opposite, Donovan Mitchell's 23 points, eight rebounds and nine assists were insufficient argument for a Jazz weighed down by their weak statistics from the triple (9 of 35) and by the overwhelming partial conceded in the third quarter (19-36).
Doncic (with 10 points in that stretch) and Dinwiddie led that outstanding quarter in which the Mavericks completed a 13 of 20 shooting, with an 8 of 12 triples.
Juancho HernangĂłmez played nine minutes and added three points, a rebound, an assist and a steal.
Doncic's Mavericks will meet in the semifinals with the leaders of the West.
âThe Suns are the number one team this season.
It will be very difficult, we have to prepare very wellâ, the Slovenian analyzed before the media after achieving the pass. âWe will have to play our best basketball because they have many players capable of defending and scoring.
It's a very complete teamâ, concluded Doncic, who joked about the last triple missed by Bogdanovic.
I told him: you don't miss a lot of those shots.
My heart stopped.
It seemed to me that that throw lasted like fifteen seconds.
I don't know, I just hoped it would fail,â he pointed out with a relieved smile.
With the 24 points against the Jazz, Doncic has already reached 500 points in 16
playoff games
.
Since Michael Jordan (who did it in 14), no player has reached this number so quickly.
In the Eastern Conference, the Sixers led by Joel Embiid and James Harden won the sixth game of the series against the Raptors in Toronto with a convincing 97-132 to seal the 4-2 with which they go to the second round of the
playoffs
in which will face the Miami Heat, who won their series against the Atlanta Hawks 4-1.
Embiid, who in 2019 suffered elimination in the same Scotiabank court in the seventh game after Kawhi Leonard's unlikely triple, was the game's top scorer, with a double double of 33 points and 10 rebounds.
Tyrese Maxey had 25 points, going 5-for-12 from 3-point range, while Harden also finished the night with a double-double of 22 points and 15 assists.
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