SAN FRANCISCO – Midway through the second quarter Tuesday night, after missing each of his first five shots, frustration intruded on Chris Paul's face. His Warriors debut was going to be one of those nights, eh?
Well, no. Only for the first two quarters.
The Warriors came out of intermission and quickly wiped out a 15-point deficit, turning the season opener into spirited competition, with the sellout crowd at Chase Center roaring and on its feet during the final minutes of what ended with a 108-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
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CP3’s introduction to Dub Nation wasn’t going so well for him or his teammates until he made it so in the third quarter, putting on quite the show, particularly during a four-minute stretch that woke up his teammates and the snoozing crowd.
“He controlled the game for much of the action,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Paul’s first bucket as a Warrior came on his seventh field-goal attempt, a midrange jumper from the left baseline with 6:49 left in the third, igniting a 15-4 run that pulled the Warriors out of a three-point deficit and gave them an eight-point lead, 76-68, on a CP3 3-point play with 3:55 left in the quarter.
After trailing 61-46 at the half – and looking vulnerable to being blown out – Stephen Curry and Paul keyed a 40-19 third-quarter advantage that allowed Golden State to take an 86-80 lead into the fourth.
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“He’s a rhythm player,” Moses Moody said of Paul. “He’s really good at getting you the ball in spots you wanted, making plays, as well as scoring himself. Things go good when he’s on the floor.”
There was hope. Paul in the third quarter scored 10 points, going 3-of-4 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, adding two assists and one steal. Recognizing his work, the crowd uttered its first “CP3! CP3! CP3!” chant while Paul was at the line in the third.
The 38-year-old veteran finished with a rather typical Chris Paul line: 14 points (albeit on rough 4-of-15 shooting), nine assists and six rebounds. He was plus-5 over 34 minutes – plus-9 over 18 minutes after halftime.
“Chris is so good,” Kerr said. “The way he controls the game. He hits big shots when you need them. Nine assists. He gives us a different dimension, just with his point guard mentality.”
Given twin priorities by the Warriors, Paul was excellent on one and very good on the other.
Tasked with cleaning up Golden State’s tendency to give the ball to the other team, CP3 committed only one turnover. That’s huge win, particularly considering he was the primary ballhandler.
The other ask of CP3? To oversee production during segments when Curry is on the bench, often a problem. Paul did fine, getting abundant assistance from Moses Moody (11 points, three steals, two rebounds) and Gary Payton II (one point, two rebounds, three steals, team-best plus-15 over 21 minutes).
Most everything the Warriors produced in the first half was the kind of rubbish Paul and his teammates want to throw into a trash bin.
“It was a little clunky offensively for much of the game,” Kerr said. “It felt like it was mainly that the ball just wasn’t going in. The first half, we missed a lot of shots and we let that affect our energy . . . but the guys really fought, competed. We got some good shots and good possessions. Did some good things.”
It was a mixed bag for the Warriors and for Paul. They’ll be better and so will he. He earned a solid B grade in Game 1, with 81 more to come.