Phoenix Suns, Chris Paul Make History After Reaching NBA Finals

The Phoenix Suns are one step closer to winning a championship. On Wednesday night, the Suns, led by Chris Paul, took down the Los Angeles Clippers 130-103 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. The win puts the Suns in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993. It will also be Paul’s first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals after being in the league for nearly 16 years.

“I just kept thinking, if we do what we’re supposed to do, I get the last laugh,” Paul said afterward, per ESPN. “So you stay the course long enough, you break ’em, and that’s what we did.” Paul, who spent several years with the Clippers, scored a playoff-career high 41 points in the win. He’s one of the reasons the Suns are in the Finals as he helped the team earn the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Paul was able to lead the Suns to a historic win despite missing the first two games of the series. The 36-year-old was sidelined due to the league’s health and safety protocols. He struggled when he returned but made plays in a crucial Game 6.

“Hell, man, I experienced COVID. Just a week ago, I was here [in L.A. while quarantining] at home. Couldn’t be there with my teammates,” Paul said. “It’s been a lot, and I want it not just for myself but for everybody in that locker room.”

Suns coach Monty Williams was impressed by what Paul did on Wednesday night “There were questions about his production before tonight, and in my heart I felt like it was a matter of time,” Williams said of Paul after the game. “I didn’t know it was going to be like that, but that’s who Chris is. He was tired and he was still making those kinds of plays – getting to the basket, the 3s, orchestrating everything.”

The last time the Suns made the NBA Finals was when Charles Barkley was in his prime. The squad took on the Chicago Bulls in the championship series and lost in six games. Before that, the Suns face the Boston Celtics in the 1976 NBA Finals and also lost in six games. The 2020-21 Suns hope Paul and superstar Devin Booker can lead them to their first title in franchise history.