Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star point guard Chris Paul was involved in a controversial moment during his team's impressive 119-107 overtime victory against the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of their first-round playoffs matchup. Paul hit Rockets swingman Ben McLemore with a below-the-belt shot, which was seen by some as a dirty play.
After the game, Paul was asked to comment about the incident in question, to which he expressed the accidental nature of the low blow.
“I tried to get by him. It was incidental,” Paul explained, via ESPN's Royce Young. “I know when I did it on purpose, that was in college. That was a long time ago. I checked on Ben, he said he was fine. I know Mike. He's gonna get mad, he's gonna yell and scream.”
To be fair to Paul, he did admit to doing the same act on purpose (way) early in his career. This time around, he is adamant that it was unintentional.
Chris Paul was tremendous for Thunder on Saturday, as he led his side with 26 points (on 11-of-20 shooting), six rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block in 41 minutes of action. He got a lot of help from Dennis Schroeder off the bench, with the backup guard netting a team-high 29 points on 10-of-23 from the floor, along with five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
This was a huge win for OKC, as they were able to get one back in the series to make it 2-1. Another loss would have made it an insurmountable series lead for the Rockets. Instead, the Thunder have given themselves a chance to pull off an upset in this high-octane first-round matchup.
Follow Us
Subscribe