Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul sized up Houston Rockets wing Robert Covington. His crossover took him inside the arc, then he stepped back out and drained a 3.
It was Paul’s second 3-pointer in a row. It tied the game at 98 with just under three minutes to go. It put him at 13 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Paul’s shooting was a key factor in the Thunder’s 104-00 Game 6 win over the Rockets.
When fans think of Paul, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind his passing passing. Maybe it’s his basketball IQ. Maybe leadership. His shooting from deep isn’t though of as his defining factor.
But head coach Billy Donovan called him a “phenomenal” shooter and that Paul doesn’t take as many from behind the arc as he could.
“He … from my perspective, bypasses a lot of shots. I wish he took more catch-and-shoot 3s at times, but I think what makes him [an] efficient shooter is that he takes his shots,” Donovan said.
“And as a coach, I respect that, you never want to have a player feel like he’s taking shots out of rhythm.”
[lawrence-related id=437373]
Where Paul is renowned as a shooter is in the midrange. In a league that has more players focusing on taking shots at the rim or beyond the arc, Paul is still one of the foremost midrange threats.
Of any player this season who attempted more than two midrange looks per game, Paul led the league with 54% shooting. He (4.2 attempts) and Khris Middleton (4.8) were the only players to shoot more than three a game and shoot above 50%.
“You’ve got to get the correct matchups, you’ve got to get the correct spacing, … and I think Chris, in those situations, he is really, really an elite 3-point shooter,” Donovan said. “He’s an elite mid-range shooter.”
It gets even better late in the game. Paul took the third-most midrange looks in the fourth quarter in the league, and his 61.3% was 8% higher than anyone else who averaged at least one fourth-quarter look per game.
His 36.9% 3-point shooting in the fourth quarter is respectable, and his 67% true shooting in crunch time — a five-point game within the final five minutes — is second-best to center Joel Embiid for anyone with a usage percentage over 30.
“He gets so much credit for being such a savant as a basketball player and (his) basketball IQ, intellect, feel for the game, it is off the charts.
But I do think one of the things that really makes him an incredibly unbelievable offensive player besides his mind and his passing is if you can get him the right spacing, he can get the spots on the floor. And if he gets to those spots, you feel pretty good about the shots he’s gonna put in.”
[lawrence-related id=437385,437361]