Is Chris Paul The BIGGEST Playoff Choker in NBA History

So the Phoenix Suns were just months away from appearing in a second-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and they did so in historically embarrassing fashion. Now, of course, with such a big surprise, there are a lot of things that many people could look at Luca Donches and his potential all-time great postseason run or what exactly the Phoenix Suns should do next in the hopes that this doesn't happen again so they can possibly get back to the finals, especially since Deandre Ayton in this upcoming offseason. is due to a contract extension and with Phoenix already way over the top financially, are they willing to commit to a center that hasn't looked all that impressive throughout the series and if they decide to move on from their 23 year old center, who exactly is it?

I'm going to dance with Cameron Payne before the games, so yes, there are a lot of very important questions that need to be answered as soon as possible, but the one thing the NBA community has decided to focus on is Chris Paul and his

history

in the

playoff

s, because if I didn't know another reason why this is such an embarrassing loss for the Phoenix Suns is because at the beginning of the series they were up 2-0 and since the result of the series was a loss, this is the fifth time in Chris Paul's career. where he has blown a 2-0 lead and that being an undeniable fact, a lot of people are starting to use the phrase play off

choker

when talking about cp3 and honestly, as much as I love

chris

paul

, when I look at his resume, it seems quite disturbing.

On the surface not only does he have 5 2-0 blown leads, he also has a 2-1 blown lead, he has a 3-2 blown lead, he has some unforgiving moments during a 2014 series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and, of course, as we all know he also infamously participated in blowing a 3-1 lead, so yes, Chris Paul's

playoff

choker

makes a lot of sense, well, not so much because in these series Chris Paul, as an individual , he's usually putting up really good numbers, he too. As his teammates have dealt with injuries and unfavorable times and when you look at some of the teams he ended up losing on, I honestly don't know to what extent it can be labeled as a job choke if he wasn't even the favorite for gain. the series to start, so in today's video we're going to delve a little deeper into Chris Paul's playoff run, the shortcomings of him and find out if he really is a playoff choker.

We begin in 2008 in the Western Conference Semifinals, where 23-year-old Chris Paul has the daunting task of leading the Hornets past the dynastic San Antonio Spurs, a Spurs team that had just come off a championship and that he also had the fourth best chance of repeating that year, so yes, for some reason, people try to be critical. of cp3 not beating this team, however, after the first two games of the series the hornets had a 2-0 lead and in both games cp3 was incredible, which brings us to the third game where cp3 raised their game to historic heights and not only was he the best player on the court that game, but he also gave us iconic moments where you've probably seen how you really captured how great the future hall of famer was in his prime;

However, even with a 35-point output with nine assists, only one loss. and shot sixty percent from the field, it simply wasn't enough to beat the Spurs as the Hornets lost by 11 points. I rewatched this game to try to figure out why exactly the Hornets lost and it was a combination of Sloyakovich and Pargo having horrible shooting nights plus backcourt Tony Parker and Man Ginobili being too much for the Hornets defense to handle. Hornets Over the next three games, the Hornets and Spurs would alternate decisive victories and yes, I went back to watch them both. losses and you know that

chris

paul

didn't play badly in any of them, the main reason they lost those two games is because david west struggled immensely to score, but it's david west against the san antonio spurs defense that is being pinned by tim duncan honestly, I shouldn't even have to break down this series, but I will just to be thorough, which brings us to the seventh game now on the surface.

Chris Paul, statistically speaking, looks pretty good 18 points, 14 assists, five steals and shots. respectable from the field, however, even with those numbers, there is one moment in this game that is in doubt when there are approximately 50 seconds left in the game, the Spurs only have a five-point lead and the Hornets have the ball out of dead time. paul gets the ball in but gets it right away, gets a screen from david west and is in full swing towards the rim, but unfortunately misses the layup and when you look back at the replay, it certainly looks doable, so in theory, If cp3 made that layup, then the Spurs' lead would be reduced to three points.

On the other side of the court, the Hornets would simply have to make a stop, which would then give the ball back to the Hornets with the potential to tie the game and send it to overtime. That sounds great in theory and realistically you can't fault Chris Paul for missing that layup, however there is no realistic indication that the Hornets would have won this series even if CP3 had made that layup and the reason why. I said it's because how the spurs were defending chris paul and how chris paul's teammates were just missing their shots because in many late game situations the spurs were protecting themselves from a screen or sometimes even sending a double, which forced chris paul to pass to an open player and for the most part his teammates were simply lacking shots, particularly in that game of seven, yakovich and peterson shot a combined 5 of 18 from the field and 2 of 9 from deep and looking at it through an even broader lens in the last five games of that series janeiro pargo morris peterson and pedro stayakovic shot horribly from the field.

Now combine that information with the fact that David West was also struggling throughout this series and it becomes almost impossible for me to be extremely critical of Chris Paul even with that missed layup and this is certainly a far cry from being too. a choke job and I can't believe I have to say that this brother, Chris Paul, able to force a Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs with inconsistent shooting performances from his teammates, should say a lot about how great he was in all times. the series and yes, without a doubt, he was the best player on the court for both teams.

Now let's fast forward to 2013 where Chris Paul now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Clippers are facing the Memphis Grizzlies before the series began. and neither of these teams were heavily favored or heavily favored to win a championship, so this is a relatively even matchup and because of this, on the surface, it seems a little unbearable that even though chris paul played amazing in the first two games of the series that helped the Clippers take a 2-0 lead against the Grizzlies. He would go on and blow that 2-0 lead as the Grizzlies would win the next four games to make it even more eye-catching. -cp starter played horrible in game 3 too, but of course, everything is not that simple because before game 5, blake griffin landed awkwardly on lamar odom's foot during practice, which left him hampered for the rest of the series, in fact Griffin was so committed that in the sixth game he had to come off the bench and what was even more telling is that in those two games the Clipper is still lost despite Chris Paul's production, especially in In terms of scoring, he increased significantly to a score of 30 points with great efficiency, so although yes, this is one of the series where Chris Paul blew a 2-0 lead, it is completely unfair to be too critical of him no only because Blake Griffin went down after the fourth game but also in the last two games of the series when he needed more production from Chris Paul, he gave it to him.

Now things aren't looking so positive for Chris Paul in this upcoming series, as we now jump ahead one year to the 2014 Western Conference Semifinals, where the Clippers faced Oklahoma. City Thunder now, although yes, when the series was all said and done, statistically speaking, Chris Paul looked great and, also, the Thunder were the favorite team in the series, so they were supposed to win and, also , outside the Clippers, bothering. thunder after the first game there really wasn't a significant lead for cp3 to exploit throughout this series, however, this series is still worth noting when talking about chris paul's postseason failures because even with all of those factors This series was still winnable, but the only reason it ended up losing was because of Chris Paul's poor performances in the second game.

Chris Paul got into foul trouble early in the first quarter, allowing OKC to build a lead. of nine points they maintained for the rest of the game in game three chris paul would go from four in the fourth quarter and, keep in mind, the Clippers were actually pulling away in that fourth quarter, but they still dropped the ball in the final stretch, but the

biggest

collapse of all has to be the infamous game five in which Chris Paul in a game where the Clippers had a one-point lead with less than 20 seconds left, instead of simply committing the foul and being Sent to the free throw line, he proceeds to shoot believing he's having a high IQ moment so Westbrook can foul him and hopefully him. can be sent to the free throw line for three free throws instead of two, but instead he turns the ball over and then, on the next possession, ironically fouls West Brook while attempting a three-pointer, sending Russ to the free throw line and then does everything. three of his own, giving okc the one point lead and then on the final possession, where chris paul has the ability to correct all his mistakes by hitting the winning shot, he then turns the ball over, consolidating so a one point win for okc, so yeah, really.

Really bad on Chris Paul and that's the definition of stifling a series so yeah I definitely have no problem calling it what it is and just a quick side note when I was re-watching this game. Brother Docker Rivers was perplexed by what Chris Paul was doing. Oh, and then he just yells at the referees because they should have caught a foul and it's like brother doctor quit the act, dog, just quit. Now we move on to the 2015 Russian Conference Semifinals, where the Clippers faced Houston. rockets and yes, this is the series where they blew a 3-1 lead.

Now I know for a fact that most people probably think this is a no-brainer for Chris Paul to blow another lead, however, it's a little more complicated than that. In fact, it's so complicated that I made a whole video, so I suggest you watch it. However, here are the footnotes. Chris Paul entered the series dealing with a hamstring injury that was so serious that he missed the first two games and then even when he arrived. He came back and the series went back to Los Angeles, he still didn't perform that well, however, the Clippers annihilated the Houston Rockets giving them a 3-1 lead, so now that you know Chris Paul was absent in the first loss of series, now allows us to focus on the last three losses that ended games five and seven. cp3 was great and unfortunately the score wasn't close enough for me to go deep into the fourth quarter, which then brings us to game six where more or less chris paul is still playing very well in the first three quarters of this game, but then the fourth quarter goes up and in that final period, a quarter in which the rockets were down by 13 points, cp3 would then proceed to shoot two of seven from the field while participating in a massive Los Angeles Clippers collapse and also It's very important to note that of those last three losses, this was easily the game the Clippers won the most, so I can see why a lot of people highlight this series in terms of CP3 collapses.

However, in the postseason it is very difficult for me to blame Chris Paul for an entire series just because of one bad quarter, although it was very important, there were still other factors that played a much bigger role in determining the outcome of the series, Like Corey. Brewer and Josh Smith went crazy combining for 29 points in the exact same quarter in which they had the game of their lives, but more importantly, the supporting cast members who surrounded Chris Paul and Blake Griffin during those last three losses They were bad, really bad, and I know it. some people consider it an excuse to highlight role players in a losing series, however, when you look at these shooting splits from jj redick, matt barnes, jamal crawford and austin rivers, i honestly don't know what else you can expect from chris paul and me. do not subscribe tothe ideology of well, you're a great player, so you should figure it out.

I think it's a very idiotic and Neanderthal way to look at basketball because, honestly, what do you want? What do you want? Chris. paul to start making shots for jj redick, I don't get it, so this is a little complicated and I'll let you determine who exactly is the reason the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead during this series. Now moving forward a lot of these other series are self explanatory in 2016 it looks like chris paul blew a 2-0 lead against the portland pioneers; However, if you dig a little deeper, you realize that Blake Griffin and CP3 were injured in the series when Chris Paul broke his hands and then in 2017, Chris Paul blew a 2-1 lead against the Utah Jazz, However, at the end of the third game, Blake Griffin suffered a big toe injury that kept him out for the rest of the series and then moved on to the following season, CP now plays for the Houston Rockets and blew a lead of 3-2 against a Warriors team they had no business competing with;

However, once again it is unfair to criticize Chris Paul here because he had to deal with a hamstring. injury that kept him sidelined for the last two games of this series and then that brings us to last year's NBA Finals where for some reason people are extremely critical of Chris Paul but I honestly don't know why after being up 2-0 the suns will lose the third game a lot of people tend to forget that in that game devin booker played so poorly that his coach had to put him on the bench so I don't see how it's Chris Paul's fault but Chris Paul had one of the worst games of his entire career in the fourth game and to make matters worse he basically had a game deciding turnover at the end of the quarter. fourth, so yeah, you could definitely put all the blame on him in that game, but then in game five, Chris Paul got him back.

He was incredible, he scored 21 points, 11 assists, shot 60 from the field and specifically in the fourth quarter, in a close game, he left. Perfect from the field Perfect from behind the arc and we took into consideration the number of points he scored, the points that were generated from his assists and from passing the ball to Ayton, which resulted in a free throw. Chris Paul was somehow essentially responsible. for 20 of the 29 points the Sun scored in that fourth quarter, so yeah, I can't blame him for that and if anything, if you want to blame someone, I guess it would have to be Devin Booker, since he had a turnover of ball at the end of the game that essentially sealed the deal for the dollars in that game and then we have game six where once again chris paul plays very well 26 points five assists shooting almost 58 percent from the field and particularly on the last quarter of a close game chris paul basically comes out perfect from the field and was three for four from the free throw line with nine points and only one turnover so yeah I don't know how anyone could blame Chris Paul for losing this one series.

Honestly, in my opinion, this was a great series by both teams and it just so happened that the Bucks had the better players, so they won. However, if you had to honestly blame someone it might be Devin Booker once again, not only did he play so poorly in game three that they benched him and then they had him. a turnover late in the game in game five, but notably in the last game of this series, Devin Booker was held to 19 points on 36 field goals and turned the ball over six times, five of those turnovers occurring in the second half and in the fourth quarter. devin booker shot two of seven from the field and finally we have this year the sons and maverick series where chris paul will play amazing in the first two outings, giving his team a 2-0 lead, but after that, chris paul went down Of the face.

In this land, you can call it age or a really bad matchup, but even though CP was horrible, they routinely held him under 10 points and couldn't buy a basket in game 6 while the Mavericks were beating the Phoenix Suns by almost 50 points, but is that it? enough to consider chris paul a playoff choker in this video we discuss nine different series in which chris paul would lose even though his team was the first to reach two series wins and of the nine there are only two series in the ones where Chris Paul performed so poorly that we could put most of the blame on him;

However, for the nine series, you could easily write down two injuries in 2013, 16, 17 and 18, and then, in two series, you could easily argue that Chris Paul's laws to the best team in 2008 against the San Antonio Spurs and in the 2021 NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks and then we had the 2015 series where again I said, I'll leave it to your discretion. I personally fall somewhere in the middle, but even if I came a little closer to blaming Chris Paul, it's still not enough that these nine series call Chris Paul a playoff choker based on basically two series and a bad fourth quarter is not enough to justify that label too.

It's really hard for me to overlook the fact how great Chris Paul performs in the playoffs in general. He is one of the few players in NBA

history

where his regular season production carries over into the postseason and even through a more refined lens. what chris paul produces in late games, even that is better than what cp produces in a regular season, which again says a lot about how great of a postseason player he is when he wears the playoff choker tag, i think that we have to be a little bit It's more complex in the conversation that we have that he just choked because he blew this lead or he choked because he hasn't won a championship yet and I think that's where Chris Paul is a victim of the same low level ideology that people criticize lebron for losing in the final even though he was not the favorite and also played very well, so no one can harshly criticize cp3 for losing a series in which he averaged 24 11 and two and a half steals while He shot 50 from the field and you criticize him because he lost a series even though it's against the San Antonio Spurs, it's a little ridiculous and, furthermore, it's very false when people simply say how many leads he's wasted without properly highlighting. the context that some of these series, he or Blake Griffin didn't even finish, so yes, Chris Paul is far from a playoff choker and honestly, I think we should evolve the dialogue around playoff participants , especially those who have not yet won a championship, but oh well. those are just my thoughts, please let me know what you think about the video in the comments section below about cp3's playoff run, also for people who are interested in the video where I talk about the Clippers blowing that lead from 3-1. 2015, make sure you click on the video on the screen right now and make sure to hit the subscribe button and the notification bell until next time, I'll see you all later, peace.