The Phoenix Suns were unlucky enough when they drew the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs after their best regular season in years. If that wasn't bad enough, Chris Paul's brutal injury luck striking yet again in Game 1 was a cruel twist of fate that's going to rob us of an epic series.
The Suns were able to win Game 1 despite Paul not being able to do much of anything after the injury. They were in position to have a chance late in Game 2 with Paul battling yet ineffective, thanks to backup Cameron Payne doing his best to be the hero Phoenix needed to pull off a stunner. But LeBron James and Anthony Davis are inevitable, dominating down the stretch as the Suns' crunch-time offense melted down without CP3.
Those last few minutes when the Lakers went to AD at the 5 showed how they have that extra gear they can go to when needed. With Paul hobbled, the Suns don't have that in their bag. Paul is still a crunch-time maestro who can grind out possessions and either hit mid-range daggers or find teammates for buckets. The Paul-Devin Booker duo is ideal for playoff basketball because of that mid-range prowess and ability to hit those tough shots against a locked-in defense.
With no Paul, the Lakers can sell out on Booker and force others to beat them. Payne did his best in Game 2, but he's not beating Los Angeles.
CP3 is going to continue to battle and do whatever he can to contribute. But everybody knows he's nowhere close to the peak of his powers, and that can be exploited. Suns head coach Monty Williams saw that in Game 2 and had to limit The Point God's minutes because of it. The story will likely be repeated as this series moves forward.
It's truly a devastating situation for Paul and this Suns team after he put forth an MVP-caliber season to help lead Phoenix to a 51-21 record and the No. 2 seed. They still entered the series as an underdog, but they had a fighting chance with Paul playing well against a vulnerable Lakers group. Phoenix is a great team that will continue to fight and compete, but there's just no chance of winning this series with Paul in his current condition.
At this point, the Suns just have to pray for a miracle that Paul heals up and can be himself again at some point in this series. But even if that happens, it will probably be too late.