NBA Playoffs 2017: 5 things we learned from the Jazz beating the Clippers

3. Chris Paul continues to be unfairly judged in the playoffs

First thing first: Chris Paul was excellent during this series. The Clippers floor general averaged 25.3 points, 9.9 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals during this series. Additionally, he shot 49.7 percent from the field and posted a 3.63 assist-turnover ratio. Paul led the Clippers to seven games after Blake Griffin went down in Game 3, not an easy task. Though his Game 7 performance was his worst of the series, he doesn’t deserve to take the amount of criticism that he has for another Clippers early playoff exit.

Chris Paul is nearing the end of his prime and will probably never dispel the notion that his playoff performances diminish his career accomplishments. While it is true that he hasn’t advanced to the Conference Finals, his career playoff averages of 21.4 points and 9.4 assists don’t deviate wildly from his career averages. His level of play in the postseason has remained fairly consistent. Paul even has one of the biggest playoff game winners since he has came into the league.

Paul’s Hornets teams never quite had the firepower to advance too far in the postseason. Their best finish came during the 2007-08 season, where New Orleans finished 56-26 and in second place in the Western Conference. The Hornets lost to the Spurs in seven games in the second round, but their second best player at the time was David West. Paul’s Clipper teams have had some bad series in the tough Western Conference, that’s a given. But this is also the third postseason that has ended following injuries in the playoffs as well. There are few players who could have carried those Clippers or Hornets teams deep through the tough Western Conference, and it isn’t fair to criticize Chris Paul for not being one of those players.