For the second year in a row, the Suns failed to protect a 2-0 series lead and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
For the second year in a row, Paul decided to stay in the game after the devastation.
After the Suns lost 123-90 to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, Paul said it was their best chance to win. I will let you know that much.
Thank God, I am not retiring tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be healthy when I return. I will keep playing.
The way Paul played for the Suns was similar to the way the series went. In the first two games, he averaged 23.5 points and just two turnovers, and Phoenix took a 2-0 lead. He averaged 9.4 points and 3.6 turnovers in the last five games after his 37th birthday on May 6. Phoenix lost four out of five after two wins, like it did in the NBA finals when it lost to Milwaukee.
On Sunday, Paul finished with 10 points and four assists, but not scoring a field goal until the Suns were already down by 40 points in the third quarter. He was hampered by a left quad issue that limited his mobility, and he was forced to limp to the finish line.
Monty Williams, who was named the NBA Coach of the Year earlier this week for guiding Phoenix to a franchise-record 64 wins in the regular season and the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs, took the blame for the loss.
The largest halftime margin in Game 7 history was recorded by the Suns, who trailed by 30 points at halftime. To make sure you get the right shots.
Luka Doncic scored 27 points for the Mavs in the first half to match the 27 of the Suns. Dallas was up 57-27 at the half and pushed its lead to as many as 46 points in the fourth quarter, which was the widest margin in a Game 7 in the last 25 years.
While Paul finished with the worst plus-minus of his 17-year career between the regular season and playoffs combined, it wasn't like his teammates did much better. The other All-Star for Phoenix this season, Devin Booker, scored 11 points on 3-for-14 shooting, far below his average of 26 points per game over the last two playoffs.
Booker said that they did a good job of getting the ball out of his hands.
Deandre Ayton had just five points and four Rebounds. After exchanging words with Williams on the bench, he was pulled from the game with 8:26 left in the third quarter.
Williams was tersely asked to explain why Ayton only played 17 minutes, the third-fewest minutes of his career.
The enormity of the moment in the win-or-go- home game might have gotten to the Suns.
Kidd said that they missed some shots that they normally make and that the pressure was on them early.
The Suns did not make excuses.
Williams said that they played their worst game of the season. We have been taking it. You have to take it as well. That is a part of manhood.
The Phoenix Suns are the third team in league history to win at least 64 games in the regular season, but fail to advance to the conference finals. The 60 combined points the Suns lost in Games 6 and 7 was the second-largest score difference over Games 6 and 7 of a playoff series, after the Warriors beat the St. Louis Bombers by 62 over the final two games in 1962.
Booker said it was a good, old-fashioned ass-whooping.
Paul has lost four in a row and the 2021-22 Suns are now a poster child for coming up small in big moments.
The Suns were the only team in the NBA to rank in the top five in both offensive and defensive categories, until they were overtaken by the Mavericks. They went from a first-place record to one of the worst in NBA playoff history in 48 minutes.
Paul said that everything is a blur right now. It is all sudden.
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