Rachel Nichols: Chris Paul Doesn't go Away

While we wait to find out when the Thunder play next, it's an excellent time to remind you that they have turned the Western Conference Quarterfinals into a dogfight. One of the main reasons why is Chris Paul.

With 1:52 left and the Thunder trailing 106-107 in game-for Paul went clutch with a driving finger roll lay-up followed by a 19 foot pull up giving Oklahoma City a 109-108 lead they wouldn't relinquish. Did we mention that he hit two critical free throws at the end of the game?

Paul has 150 clutch points this season, but that only tells you part of the story. As ESPN's Rachel Nichols says, he "doesn't go away period, ever."

Here is some of what Nichols had to say on Tuesday's episode of The Jump.

"It's that relentlessness that has enabled him at 6'1 to become one of the great true point guards in the 74-year history of the NBA."..."It's also sometimes what can turn people off about him."... "I mean, there are certainly those that just want him to give it a rest sometimes."

"But, Man are those people missing out on appreciating a skill that's just as impressive as his silky mid-range or his dazzling court vision."..."Just look at where CP is now, 35-years old playing on a team that was supposed to be rebuilding."

"He was traded to that team in part because he was supposedly injury-prone, because he was supposedly slowing down, because his strong will was supposedly grating on some of his teammates."..."And what did he do?"

"Instead of conceding to what many would just treat as a lost season, he took stock of the limited weapons he had at his disposal, and he sharpened them."... "He couldn't change having young inexperienced teammates, but he could work overtime to tutor them and speed up their development."

"He couldn't change how old he was, but he could change how old he felt." .."He went vegan reshaped his workout routine and got back some of the lift and endurance he had five years ago."

"And since he knew the Thunder were never going to regularly steamroll into games and overpower people he honed the art of picking his spots becoming the most statically clutch player in the NBA. "...."Basically, he refused to go away."

Nichols would go on to mention that during the Rockets "onslaught" of threes in the third quarter, Paul scored 11 points, while his supporting cast kept grinding. Oklahoma City has won 17 games when trailing at the end of the third, and they've also come back from 15 plus down on the road during the fourth to earn three wins this season.

The Thunder were lucky the Rockets went cold in game four. But as long as Paul stays healthy, this team is never out of a game or a series.

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With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.

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