Inside: Suns’ Paul plays through injury as L.A. regains form.

PHOENIX » It took Chris Paul four tries and 16 minutes to hit his first shot on Tuesday night, but just being out there was a lift of its own.

Monty Williams credited the 36-year-old veteran leader of his Suns squad, who took the floor for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Lakers with KT tape striped across his right shoulder. The reported injury was a stinger, a bit of a relief the way Paul dropped to the court in Game 1 in a pained grimace.

Phoenix’s Cameron Johnson said he was initially confused as to what happened as teammates started gathering about Paul, even though Paul appeared to make contact with his arm before going down.

“Bodies kind of got tangled up,” he said. “It was good to see him come back into the game. It was good to see him fight through.”

By all indications, Game 2 was a similar battle for Paul, who was left off the pregame injury report, but who Phoenix players and coaches talked about in speculative tones as he prepared to play through the soreness in his shoulder. Initially, he showed reluctance to shoot, but he was able to hit a pair of jumpers in the second quarter that rallied Phoenix’s rowdy crowd.

While Williams said that he thought Paul’s return in Game 1 was an emotional jolt for the Suns, Paul’s example stretches beyond that to a young team.

“The last couple days, they’ve been able to watch him just grind through all the physical stuff he can do on his own, and he’s got a group of people around him to help him, and I think it’s an example to all of our guys,” Williams said. “The level of greatness Chris has shown over his career is not something that you sneak up on. You really have to work at it and be diligent about your diet, your work, all those things. And the guys are encouraged by that and inspired.”

The Lakers of course are also dinged up: Coach Frank Vogel said he still thinks Dennis Schröder is making a recovery from the conditioning he lost in the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. LeBron James remains a bit of a question for the Lakers, even though he’s indicated every desire to play through whatever discomfort in his right ankle he might be feeling.

“He’s still going to feel it throughout, probably, the duration of the playoffs,” Vogel said. But he’ll be available and ready to go. And his (left) shoulder (injured against Paul) had some minimal soreness but he’s good to go.”