Chris Paul had another outstanding performance today against the New Orleans Pelicans. He put up another double-double with 22 points and 11 assists, although his shooting was not the best tonight at the Footprint Center in Arizona. With Devin Booker sidelined, the top-seeded Suns are vulnerable.
That means they’re relying heavily on Chris Paul to carry them. While the Suns won the 5th game 112-97, Paul was involved in some shenanigans which angered the fans.
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On Tuesday night he pulled out all the stops, including a groin kick to a Pelicans defender. With 4:36 left before halftime and the Suns leading 46-35, Paul drove to the free-throw line while being hounded by Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado.
Paul pulled up for a jumper from the left elbow and appeared to intentionally kick his right leg out, hitting Alvarado right in the junk. In the New Orleans-Phoenix series.
Pretty clear nutkick by CP3 on Alvarado here. Wonder if the league office will have something to say about it tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/yYjc2RecQS
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) April 27, 2022
Alvarado has been in Paul?s grill constantly. He even embarrassed him with a ridiculous but typical Grand Theft-style steal in Game 4.
Outrage over Chris Paul and his act of violence
There has been outrage over why the foul was not given. Fans are understandably angry over this oversight. Chris Paul has been called a “cheat” by some of the fans. Fans have said that due to Alvarado getting to him, Paul has decided to become violent. These are some of the cr?me de la cr?me of the tweets highlighting the issue:
CP3 out here doing dick kicks. Fuckin unethical dick kicker. Glad he wasn't allowed to be a Laker. https://t.co/J2sEAZAvmV
— JoeyFats (@xfat_joex) April 27, 2022
Dirty player doing dirty things. Not surprised https://t.co/9tDdmpnwII
— Mo (@Mo_S10) April 27, 2022
This is a dirty play by Chris Paul. All because the kid Alvarado is putting the clamps on him. https://t.co/votEYs65vg
— SpitFireHipHop.com (@JimyLincoln) April 27, 2022
Draymond would miss a championship clinching game if he did this… https://t.co/flHqvtHWdp
— GSWdelivery (@GSWdelivery) April 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/cosmicballr/status/1519202896260202496?t=rS3uAB3auO94Sx7_TY7i9A&s=19
Phoenix Suns’ 5th game against the Pelicans
The Phoenix Suns are now leading the series 3-2, with the next games being at New Orleans and Phoenix, respectively. If the Suns win the next one, they will get through to the Conference semifinals. If Pelicans peg one back, the Suns will have home-court advantage in Game 7.
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Other than Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges scored 31 points and blocked four shots in arguably the best game of this pro career. DeAndre Ayton added 19 points and nine rebounds. The Suns never were able to totally pull away till the final few minutes of the match. Once again, Phoenix found a way to close, improving to 50-0 this season when leading after three quarters, including 3-0 in this series.
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Bridges closed the Suns’ scoring with two emphatic dunks in the final minute. From the losing team, Brandon Ingram scored 22 points and CJ McCollum added 21 for New Orleans, which was hurt by a slow start and 15 turnovers.
Who will win this series? Should Paul have been penalized? Discuss this incident in the comments below.