Chris Paul, the Mavericks’ public enemy number 1

In five days, Chris Paul will celebrate his 37th birthday and like his buddy LeBron James, the Suns point guard continues to defy time on the basketball court. The proof is in his Game 6 against the Pelicans, which he finished with a 14 out of 14 on shots. Never seen in the history of the playoffs.

In Dallas, they are full of praise for the qualities of the “Point God”, a model of longevity but also of leadership.

“We could be here all day,” Jason Kidd said when asked what makes Chris Paul so unique. “He’s a competitor. He likes to win. He’s a leader. That’s a small sample, but he loves to compete. He likes to win, and he likes to put his team in a position to win.”

Against the Pelicans and their young defenders, Chris Paul was again great with 22.3 points and 11.3 assists on average. All this with only 1.5 loose balls per game!

“We can’t control him, but we can make it hard for him,” said Jason Kidd. “That’s all we can do… He’s seen every defense possible. We just have to make things difficult for him, and be satisfied when he takes a tough shot.”

Facing Chris Paul are three point guards. All have different profiles, but Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie will take turns bothering him on defense, but also tiring him on the other side of the court.

“He has perfected the point guard position”

“He’s a Hall Of Famer, and he makes any team he goes to better. We really, really need to focus on him” believes Luka Doncic. “I think he controls everything on the court. He’s their leader and he’s a hell of a player. We really have to make a big effort to stop him. It’s hard to slow him down. As we saw in their last game. He didn’t miss a shot. It’s crazy!”

For Jason Kidd, one of CP3’s strengths is bringing what his team needs. From a point guard, he can become a point guard-scorer when needed.

“He has perfected the point guard position,” concludes the Mavericks coach. “The more you practice and the more you see different defenses, the more you start to understand what you need to do. He knows how to move the elements to get the upper hand. When it comes to game intelligence, he’s off the charts. His competitiveness is off the charts and his will is off the charts. He’s off the charts in a lot of areas, and you just have to make it hard for him.”

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