For the third season in a row, Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul has seen his usage rate get lower. But Paul shouldn't be surprised by that, as he continues to learn how to play more without the ball in his hands as much as he used to during the prime years of his career.

During Tuesday night's huge 134-105 win at home over the Golden State Warriors, the pass-first guard had to be egged on even by his teammates to shoot the ball even though he was coming off a bad shooting performance from deep in the previous game against the Clippers.

“Yeah. I shot 8 of 'em last game….I'm gonna shoot, I promise,” Chris Paul told reporters when asked about his teammates telling him to pull the trigger, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports.

Via Matt Petersen of the Daily Herald:

“Concerning his shift in usage and within the offense, Chris Paul said Suns wanted to be ‘harder to guard' this season. Says catching and shooting is something ‘I gotta get used to because I'm always creating for other guys, but it's been nice to get some catch-and-shoots.'”

Chris Paul rebounded successfully from a forgettable 1-for-8 3-point shooting performance in a 112-95 win on the road over the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday by going 4-for-5 from behind the arc and tallying 16 points while still dropping nine dimes in 35 minutes of action versus the Warriors.

Paul entered the Warriors game with just a 25 percent shooting percentage on catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts, but he will look to strike while the iron is hot as he prepares to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday at home.