With 41-point outburst, Paul finally reaches third round
HOUSTON — Chris Paul didn’t want to talk about his postseason failures, not after Houston’s win over Utah finally got him into the Western Conference finals.
“For us it was just ... they were in the way,” Paul said Tuesday. “So we were just trying to get another win.”
His Rockets teammates saw it a little differently. They were eager to talk about Paul’s dominant performance, including a playoff career-high 41 points, in a 112-102 victory in Game 5 that eliminated the Jazz.
The Rockets will have homecourt advantage in the West finals against the Warriors.
“He went out there and took over the game,” teammate James Harden said of Paul. “An opportunity for him that he’s never had before. He went to go get it. He put us all on his back and said listen: ‘I got us.’ ”
Paul made 8-of-10 threepoint attempts and had 10 assists and seven rebounds without a turnover. He’s the first player in playoff history to have at least 40 points and 10 assists without a turnover since turnovers became an official statistic in 1977-78, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“The performance that Chris put out there — if he didn’t make it out this time, something’s wrong,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
It will be Houston’s second trip to the West finals in four years and the first ever for Paul. The point guard, who is in his 13th NBA season, has been panned for failing to get past the second round in his nine previous trips to the playoffs.
He’s a nine-time All-Star in his first season with Houston after an offseason trade from the Los Angeles Clippers. His previous career-best in the playoffs was 35 points, which he accomplished three times.
Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell had 22 of his 24 points in the third quarter before leaving with about seven minutes left with an apparent left leg injury. The team didn’t provide an update on his condition after the game, but he was wearing a walking boot on his left foot.
“Unhappy with the results, but happy with everybody as a whole,” Mitchell said.
Houston returns to the conference finals for the first time since 2015. It’s the second straight season the Jazz have lost in the second round. They were swept by the Warriors last season.
P.J. Tucker scored a playoff career-best 19 points, and Harden added 18 points on a night he was “under the weather,” according to D’Antoni.
The Jazz were without Ricky Rubio and Dante Exum because of hamstring injuries. Rubio missed the entire series. Exum was hurt in Game 4.