Chris Paul’s brain was faster than his body in Suns’ 123-119 loss to Bucks in Game 5
Chris Paul #ChrisPaul
Chris Paul’s brain was faster than his body Saturday night.
It happens to every athlete, eventually. Play long enough and you’ll see opportunities you can’t execute.
For Paul, the realization had been clear long before he checked in to start the fourth quarter of the Suns 123-119 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, but he went out there anyway.
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He’s never been an NBA champion, but he was showing championship heart. If the Bucks were going to beat him, they were going to have to knock him out.
With about 10 minutes left and the Suns trailing by 10 points, Paul found himself with the ball near the free-throw line, his back was to the basket, but he could see in his peripheral vision Cam Johnson open in the corner. Paul whipped a crosscourt pass that should have given Johnson an open shot.
The pass was high and wide. Johnson could only try to save it from going out of bounds. Bobby Portis ended up with the steal. Milwaukee ended up with the game.
It looks like they’re going to take the series.
Teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 NBA Finals go on to win the series 72% of the time (21-8), according to USA TODAY NBA writer Jeff Zillgitt.
To win the first NBA championship in Suns’ franchise history, Phoenix will need to find hope in the reality that eight teams didn’t care that they had to win two in a row to take the title, they did it anyway.
Besides, their defense failed them far more than their point guard.
The Suns gave up 43 points in the second quarter. That pace sustained for an entire game would have been good for 172 points.
Phoenix gave up 36 points in the third quarter. That was 79 points in two quarters, a 158-point pace.
Video: Paul, Ayton look different for Suns since Game 2 (NBC Sports)
It looked hopeless going into the fourth.
The Suns were down 10, and the Bucks were scoring from anywhere they wanted.
Paul — one of the greatest players to ever to lace up a pair of gym shoes, the final piece of the Suns’ Western Conference championship puzzle, the flint that helped spark the dormant fire in one of the nation’s best basketball cities — wasn’t going out like that.
His buddies from Los Angeles, LeBron James and Lil Wayne, were sitting courtside.
The entire basketball world was watching.
Could he find just enough more magic to make the impossible possible?
Everything on him was aching, it seemed.
With about 5 minutes left, Paul got Giannis Antetokounmpo on a switch and started the ballhandling wizardry that has defined the modern era of NBA basketball.
Antetokounmpo, one of the game’s best defenders, didn’t stand a chance.
Paul moved the 7-footer all around the floor then put up a little fadeaway that Antetokounmpo couldn’t touch.
It pulled the score to 113-107.
A few minutes later, Paul flashed past Pat Connaughton along the baseline for a layup to pull the Suns to within one point, 120-119.
But in the end, he didn’t have enough juice to squeeze Phoenix past Milwaukee.
He finished with 21 points, 11 assists and just one turnover, but he just didn’t look like himself out there. He wasn’t able to simply take over the game in key moments.
This isn’t over.
If anyone is capable of turning things around it’s Chris Paul.
“Everything we want is on the other side of hard,” Paul said, quoting his coach, Monty Williams. “It doesn’t get any harder than this.”
He knows what to do.
But an improbable comeback is going to be that much more unlikely with Chris Paul’s brain moving faster than his body.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chris Paul’s brain was faster than his body in Suns’ 123-119 loss to Bucks in Game 5