Phoenix Suns star Chris Paul doesn't want to be reminded of 3-1 leads. After all, he knows very well that no lead is safe in the NBA.
Devin Booker, Paul, Deandre Ayton and the rest of the Phoenix roster put the team one win away from an NBA Finals appearance with a narrow 84-80 victory in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers. However, when Rachel Nichols was about to ask CP3 about getting the massive lead in his bid to reach the championship series for the first time, the veteran guard stopped the ESPN reporter and analyst before she could finish her question.
Paul has a good reason for refusing to talk about the lead, though, as he highlighted that he doesn't have a lot of good experience when it comes to that.
Who can blame Chris Paul for that? Besides, the Suns playmaker has been with several so-called championship contenders, but one could say this is the closest he has ever been to the NBA Finals.
For those who don't know, Paul has experienced blowing a 3-1 lead before. Ironically, it was back in 2015 when he was still with the Clippers. In the second round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets, the then Doc Rivers-led team wasted three chances to make it to the conference finale and eventually went home in tears.
Paul knows the job is far from over. The mission is to get to four wins, and no matter how huge their lead is, only the first team who reaches the number of needed victories will move on. Of course, it's nice to have a comfortable cushion, but that is also why the Suns need to focus ad close out the game before giving their opponents any momentum at all.