Suns ride Chris Paul's strong 4th to Game 4 win over Clippers

LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul took a seat next to Kevin Durant after the Phoenix Suns grabbed a commanding 3-1 series lead over the LA Clippers on Saturday afternoon with a 112-100 win at Crypto.com Arena and took stock of his new place in the NBA landscape.

«I've never played with this much talent,» Paul said after scoring 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter of Saturday's win. «Where people are doubling off of me… I've never seen so many open shots.»

Paul almost didn't know what to do with all those open looks in Game 3 on Thursday, when he finished just 5-for-18 from the field.

«It's something that I'm getting used to,» he said. «Trying to figure out when to pick your spots, when to be aggressive. We're figuring this thing out on the fly. I'm just happy that a few of them fell tonight.»

On Saturday, Paul hit 8-of-17 from the field and dished out nine assists. He also had three steals and three blocks for the first time in his career. And after the Suns turned the ball over on three straight possessions and gave up seven straight points in the first minute of the second half, it was Paul who lit into his teammates on the bench.

«I think the way the third quarter started, I was pissed. We all was,» Paul said. «We were on the bench sort of going at each other. But it's healthy. Just trying to get us going. I tried to get myself going defensively. The shots, they're going to come.»

Paul had some of his best games as a professional in this building, hitting six go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in his six seasons with the Clippers (2011-17). Since then he's played for three different franchises. This season's Suns might just be his best, last chance at an NBA title.

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