This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Los Angeles • Chris Paul, it turns out, is a human after all.
The Clippers superstar point guard had been brilliant through the first six games of his team's first-round series with the Jazz. Paul had averaged 10.3 fourth-quarter points leading to Game 7, the highest final frame average of anyone in the playoffs.
Great players, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said earlier in the week, "just have an ability to rise and go places where us mortals can't go. Chris Paul has been one of those guys."
But on Sunday, Paul finally stumbled. The guard finished with 13 points — his lowest output in any game this series — with his team facing elimination.
"Man, I know I've got to be better," he said after the 104-91 defeat. "I've got to be better, especially in a Game 7 like this."
Paul went 6 for 19 from the floor and had nine assists.
After the game, Rivers confirmed that Paul had suffered an ankle injury. But the Jazz also frustrated the Clippers and their star with their defensive pressure.
"They trapped him a lot," Rivers said. "… They did a great job trapping, and I didn't think we did a very good job after CP got rid of the ball of attacking. We lost our trust a little bit. We'd catch it and throw it back to CP instead of attacking."
Unlucky 13
Coming into Sunday's game, Rivers had been in 12 Game 7's as an NBA head coach, with a 6-6 record in those contests.
Rivers, however, didn't think Jazz coach Quin Snyder would be hindered by inexperience Sunday.
"Quin's an excellent coach," Rivers said before the game. "It doesn't matter if he's been in the playoffs or not. I think that's overdone. If you can coach you can coach."
No excuses
All-Star forward Blake Griffin went down with a toe injury halfway through Game 3 of this series, but Rivers said he didn't want to use that as a crutch after his team's elimination Sunday.
"They beat us," he said. "Not having Blake obviously is a major wound — when you take your best scorer, your second best rebounder, your second best passer off a team — but give Utah credit. … They won the series, and I think they should get the congratulations. There's no excuses. We lost."
Twitter: @aaronfalk