Chris Paul dominated in the first NBA Finals game of his career, leading the Phoenix Suns to a 118-105 victory.
Chris Paul played 123 playoff games before making his NBA Finals debut. When he finally got there, the Point God wasted no time making an impact, scoring 32 points and dishing out nine assists to lift the Phoenix Suns past the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bucks fans aside, NBA Twitter was largely overjoyed to see an 11-time All-Star shine on the biggest of stages. Here’s a snippet of the reaction to Paul’s explosive Game 1.
Of course, best friend LeBron James made sure to keep Paul’s eyes on the ultimate prize.
NBA Twitter reacts to Chris Paul’s NBA Finals debut
If Paul’s performances thus far in the 2021 NBA playoffs weren’t enough to remind the basketball world how he got his “Point God” nickname, his big Game 1 surely did the trick. CP3 not only hit 12 of 19 from the field himself, but he also had all of his teammates cookin’. Five other Suns finished in double digits, and the team as a whole shot 46.6 percent.
With his execution on Tuesday night, Paul found himself in elite company, matching none other than Michael Jordan as the only players in history to score at least 30 points and eight assists in their Finals debut.
Paul and the Suns still have a long road ahead to win the franchise’s first NBA title. Game 2 of the NBA Finals goes Thursday night at 9:00 pm ET.