Chris Paul scored a season-high 37 points in the Rockets’ win over the Trail Blazers tonight.
But the last two were pretty cheap – and Damian Lillard clearly didn’t like it.
NBC Sports Northwest:
Paul hit an unnecessary layup late, and Lillard let him know he wasn't happy about it. #RipCity pic.twitter.com/yV8F2Fo56u
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 11, 2018
Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest:
Lillard on confronting CP3 at end of game after Paul scored with 12.8 seconds left: "First of all, we lost the game fair and square. It wasn’t a play that impacted us winning or losing, so I wasn’t salty about that." (1/2)
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
Lillard on CP3 (continued): "They won the game, they did more things than we did … but as far as sportsmanship goes, and you know, respect … if the roles were reversed, I don’t think they would like it." (2/2)
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
Lillard said he asked Chris Paul "what is that going to get for you?" and he said Paul retorted by saying "you all weren't guarding."
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 11, 2018
This is just Paul padding his stats. There was no grander strategic consideration. Houston had wrapped up the win. The shot clock was off. It appeared everyone else on the court was content to let time run out.
I’m generally in the “don’t like it, stop it” camp. But Paul wasn’t still competing to match the trailing team’s effort. He wasn’t reacting on instinct in the flow of the game. He wasn’t trying to dazzle fans.
I understand why Lillard appear bothered – mostly because the Trail Blazers just lost, but also because Paul showed them up. If they really didn’t want Paul to score there, they could have defended. But with that opportunity passed, getting Paul’s face doesn’t seem like a terrible fallback.