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MILWAUKEE – The closest Chris Paul to ever reaching the coveted championship that eluded him throughout his 16-year career has ended up leaving him still feeling so far away from that initial title. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday, as the Suns became only the fifth team in Finals history to lose after starting the series 2-0.
“It will take a while to process this or anything, but it’s the same mentality,” Paul said after the Bucks 105-98 series dropout. “Get back to work. I’m not retiring, if that’s what you ask. It’s over. So, get back to work.”
Paul, 36, finished with 26 points on an 11-for-19 shot and five assists in the Championship Final, keeping the Suns within striking distance of Milwaukee – they were only four points behind with 1: 14 remaining – but that wasn’t enough to force a Game 7 back to Phoenix.
“Right now you’re just trying to figure out what more you could have done,” Paul said. “It’s tough. A good group of guys, one hell of a season, but this one is going to hurt for a while.”
Paul has a player option worth $ 44.2 million for next season, and while many contenders across the league could use a point guard of his ilk to make a push next season – hello, Los Angeles Lakers – he didn’t look like someone looking to leave a squad filled with young talent like Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton who got him two Promised Land wins so quickly.
“Everyone in this locker room knows we’ve had enough, but it wasn’t enough,” said Paul. “So we have to find out. I think for me I’m looking at myself and wondering how I can improve, what more I could have done and make sure I come back next season ready to do it. again. “
With the loss, Paul became the first player in league history to lose four playoffs in which his team held a 2-0 lead. But his trainer, Monty Williams, pushed aside any criticism directed at his point guard after their shared disappointment in the final.
“It’s laughable when you talk about guys like Chris who have had these unreal careers and yet they are penalized for not winning a title,” said Williams. “It was my goal, it was to win it for him and Book; these guys have carried us all year. And Chris, this is my second time to coach him; I know what it is. he puts in his job, I know dedication. And so when I hear these feelings about his career because he hasn’t won a championship, it’s just plain silly. It’s hard enough to getting to the NBA, let alone being an all-time greats, is what he is. “
Booker, who lost two games to 40 points in the series but struggled in Game 6 with 19 points on 8-for-22 shots and six turnovers – including a 2-for-7 in the fourth quarter, when the Bucks fell. retired after he was tied 77-77 after three – said the Suns’ playoff race set a new standard for the franchise.
“Championship basketball and nothing less,” as Booker described it, after Phoenix made the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. “So before next season on a Tuesday night against Cleveland, if we don’t have it, the details will be quickly reminded to us. And if you don’t want to give it all away now, what can happen and that feeling right now that we feel can happen.
“So that’s not something you want to feel. I haven’t felt such a hurt in my life. So that’s what I say when I know we have a base and a foundation, just a basketball championship anytime. “
Williams swallowed back tears in his post-game remarks when asked what it was like when dealing with the result of a narrowly missed Suns season.
“I think it’s going to take me a minute,” Williams said, her voice trapping in her throat. “I don’t take it for granted. It’s hard to get here, and I wanted it so badly, you know. It’s hard to deal with right now. It’s hard. That’s all.”
Summing up the Suns’ group chemistry, however, it wasn’t all heartbreak for the team that ousted defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, swept away league MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, knocked out LA. Clippers and gave the Bucks all they could handle with a title on the line.
“Even though we lost,” Ayton said as she walked out of the interview room, “it was still fun.”
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