Nov. 17--Chris Paul is a true point guard, a player who looks to pass first, but if it were up to Clippers' Coach Doc Rivers, that wouldn't always be the case.
"I'd like him to be a more aggressive player, that's one of the things we talked about coming into the year," Rivers said. "He's such a point guard, it's hard for him to do it. But when he does it, I think it makes us a very dangerous basketball team."
That was evidenced Saturday when Paul scored a game-high 32 points on 10-for-13 shooting, including making five of six from beyond the three-point line in the Clippers' 120-107 win over the Phoenix Suns.
The game was tied, 54-54, at halftime, but in the third quarter, the Clippers outscored the Suns, 42-20. Paul led that charge with 11 points, making three three-pointers.
After the game, Paul acknowledged that he should shoot more.
"I do pass up a few here and there, and I'm trying to work on that," Paul said. "I try to pick my spots. I think I'm pretty good at making two people guard me, and sometimes I find the open guy, and sometimes I do pass up shots and I just got to shoot it.
Saturday marked Paul's best offensive game of the season. It was also the 12th anniversary of his grandfather's murder. Before the game, Paul posted a photo of him and his grandfather on Facebook, captioned "11/15/02 #61."
Paul's grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, was 61 years old when he was beaten to death by five teens during a robbery. Paul was a senior in high school at the time.
They were extremely close, with Paul calling his grandfather his best friend. Soon after the slaying, Paul famously went on to score 61 points for Parkland High, then walked off the court into his father's arms, crying.
To this day, Paul says, he still thinks about his grandfather before every game.
