Chris Paul 'limped out' of arena after blowout loss to Mavericks with quad injury
Chris Paul’s final game of the season didn’t go as planned on Sunday night.
The Phoenix Suns veteran not only had to endure a brutal blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinals series, but he was seen leaving the Footprint Center with a significant limp.
Though he declined to comment following their 123-90 loss, Paul reportedly sustained a left quad injury, according to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears.
Suns point guard Chris Paul limped out of the arena with a very slow walk. @andscape learned that Paul had a left quad injury. When asked about his quad injury, Paul declined comment.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 16, 2022
It’s unknown when Paul injured his quad or what his recovery will look like.
Paul finished with 10 points and four assists while shooting 4-of-8 from the field in the loss. Though he dropped 28 points and shot 11-of-16 from the field in Phoenix’s Game 2 win, he was held to no more than 13 points per game the rest of the way.
With this series loss, Paul has now been a central part of five teams that have blown 2-0 leads in a 7-game playoff series. He's the only player in NBA history to be on the wrong side of so many blown series leads.
Chris Paul: ‘I’m not retiring’
There is at least a little bit of good news for the Suns.
Paul isn’t ready to quit just yet.
“We’ll be right back here next year … I’m not retiring,” he said after the game, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The 37-year-old just wrapped up his 17th season in the league, and his second with the Suns. He averaged 14.7 points and 10.8 assists throughout the regular season while averaging nearly 33 minutes per game and picking up his 12th All-Star nod.
While he’s undoubtedly nearing the end of his career, Paul isn’t done chasing a title before retirement. And with the way Phoenix is set up, they’ll be in another good spot to make a run at it next spring.
