Chris Paul and the Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a heartbreaking Game 7 loss against the Houston Rockets. It was a see-saw battle all-series long, and it took the fourth-seeded Rockets seven games to take care of business against OKC.
It was another painful first-round exit for the 35-year-old veteran, and it must have been even harder given that it was his former team that eliminated him.
Paul had to fight back his tears as he opened up about the hard-fought series.
“We fought hard all year. Obviously a lot of people doubted us, but we didn't doubt ourselves. We didn't give a damn about anybody's predictions going into any series. In any game, we expected to win,” the Thunder star said postgame, per Hoop Central.
Chris Paul was emotional in his post-game press conference
Keep your head up CP3, should be proud of a great season. 🙏🙏pic.twitter.com/4rRTenmv5Z
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) September 3, 2020
Chris Paul notched his third career playoff triple-double on Wednesday, tallying 19 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. Unfortunately, the heroics of the 10-time NBA All-Star still ended up short.
CP3 has been the Thunder's talisman all-season long, and he has been huge for OKC in the Orlando Bubble.
“That's the way we played all-season long. Every game, we expected to win. That's a tough one.” he added.
Experts only gave the Thunder a 0.2 percent chance to make it to the 2020 postseason, as they were expected to rebuild this year following a ton of moves over the summer.
This was the first season Paul shared guard duties with both Dennis Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the trio proved to be quite a scary backcourt after leading the Thunder to a surprising fifth seed en route to the playoffs.
Even with the tough first-round exit, Paul and the rest of the Thunder have surely gained the respect they truly deserved. Hats off to Chris and OKC for showing up and balling out.
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