Chris Paul’s historic WCF Game 6 for the Phoenix Suns: By the numbers

Wednesday night was a cause for celebration as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 130-103 to advance to NBA Finals for the third time in franchise history.

Point guard Chris Paul put on an impressive performance in Game 6 and the 11-time All-Star is now heading to his first Finals appearance since entering the league in 2005.

During his first playoff run with the Suns, Paul is averaging 18.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 47% from the field in 14 games.

Paul put the Suns on his back in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to make sure the series didn’t go back to Phoenix for a Game 7.

Here’s a breakdown of Paul’s historic performance in Game 6 of the WCF, by the numbers:

4

Paul finished Wednesday’s game with 41 points and zero turnovers. The veteran point guard is the fourth player in league history to record 40+ points and no turnovers in a conference finals game since turnovers became an official stat during the 1977-78 season.

35

In the Suns previous playoff series, Paul dropped 37 points in Game 4 to close out the Nuggets on the road. Then to defeat the Clippers in the conference finals, Paul put up a 40-plus performance for Phoenix.

On Wednesday, Paul became the oldest player in postseason history with 35 points in consecutive close-out games within a postseason. The previous holder of the record was Chicago Bulls Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan.

1954-1955

Paul is the first player in the shot clock era (since 1954-55) to score at least 35 points and knock down two free throws in multiple series-clinching wins in the same postseason.

31

In the second half against the Clippers on Wednesday, Paul scored 31 points to close out the series against his former team. His second half performance was the most points he scored in a single half in his entire career. Paul now joins Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Lakers’ Anthony Davis as the only players to record 30 points in the second half of a series-clinching win.

41

Paul finished Game 6 with 41 overall points, tying his playoff career-high. It was the second-most in a playoff game by a player at age 36 or older in NBA history. Paul joins Karl Malone as the only players to accomplish this feat.

1,214

The Suns All-Star will play in his first NBA Finals after 1,214 career games. That is the second-most games for a player before his first finals.

Only Kevin Willis played in more games before reaching the NBA’s biggest stage.