Chris Paul’s Phoenix Suns lost in Game 4 of their playoff series on Sunday, and the veteran point guard seemed to snap.
CP3 scored just four points in 35 minutes as his Suns lost 118-103 in New Orleans, which evened their Western Conference first-round playoff series at 2-2.
Amid his poor game, Paul had friction with several Pelicans players. Early in the third quarter, Paul and Brandon Ingram were seen talking.
Brandon Ingram and CP3 👀 pic.twitter.com/Y1HGzIeiWT
— Ingram Alerts (@IngramAlerts) April 25, 2022
Then during the fourth quarter, Herb Jones stole a pass and went in for a layup. He got fouled hard by Paul on his way to the basket.
The Smoothie King Center has been on its feet since the start of the 4th Quarter 🔊
Herb Jones puts the Pelicans up 11 midway through, after this Chris Paul Flagrant Foul 1 😱pic.twitter.com/sJ0lFHRjSG
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 25, 2022
This video clip showed just how hard Paul smacked Jones:
Chris Paul is a generationally dirty player and we need to talk about it more
We all knew the flagrant was coming#Pelicans pic.twitter.com/1UJlnhaibW
— Tony Clements (@TonyCMKE) April 25, 2022
Paul was called for a flagrant-1 foul. Jones went to the free throw line and made 1-of-2 free throws.
The two later had some more physical contact:
I love how that clip conveniently ignores Chris Paul throwing a shoulder first. Herb just didn’t back down. pic.twitter.com/8qhCqfJHII
— Tony Clements (@TonyCMKE) April 25, 2022
But the moment that went viral came a few minutes after Paul’s flagrant foul.
Jones had been knocked down, and Paul offered a hand to help up his opponent. Jones rejected Paul’s help and waited for a Pelicans teammate to help him up.
Herb Jones didn’t want help from CP3.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 25, 2022
The rejection from Jones was the cherry on top of a night to forget for CP3.
Chris Paul had one of his worst playoff performances of his career in game 4 vs the Pelicans. He posted just 4 points, 25% FG, 0 3pt FG, and 0 FT. All are worst or tied for worst of his playoff career pic.twitter.com/3M34NJlmRu
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 25, 2022
Game 5 of the series is in Phoenix on Tuesday. The series just got a whole lot more intriguing.
