West Conf. Semis - Game 5: Utah Jazz 102-112 Houston Rockets - 5 Talking Points

#1 Chris Paul made sure that he didn't drop another series from 3-1 up

Chris Paul TOOK OVER this game

At the end of game 4, TNT sideline reporter Kristen Ledlow popped the question about how CP3 felt about the series after the game. Paul's reply was self-deprecatingly witty, as he remarked

I've been here before, 3-1. S*** went bad real quick.

Paul was referring to the 3-1 series lead the Clippers held against the Rockets, before the Rockets' frankly outrageous comeback to make the Conference Finals in 2015. Well, the Rockets returned to that stage after a 3-year hiatus by hinging heavily on Paul's excellent display in Game 5.

The Point God took a while to get into his mojo, but he was at his masterful best in the 4th quarter as the Jazz kept making buckets instead of folding. Their efforts were put to bed by Paul's 41 point, 10 rebound, 7 assist clinic.

Paul converted 13 of his 22 field goal attempts, but these numbers are skewed since he missed some of his first quarter attempts. He was red hot for 3 quarters, and this shows in his scorching 8-of-10 shooting from downtown. Paul also had 0 turnovers, and he took over as the alpha dog for the Rockets in the 4th quarter owing to Harden's off shooting night.