Chris Paul’s aggressiveness plays role in Clippers’ win over Warriors

Chris Paul’s aggressive play on offense in the third quarter was a key factor for the Clippers in turning around Thursday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

Paul scored eight points in the period, and made a three-point continuation play after making a layup following a crossover. He also made a stutter-step move past Justin Holiday for a buzzer-beating layup that gave the Clippers a 73-70 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Coach Doc Rivers has been strongly encouraging Paul to look to shoot more, and after the Clippers shot only 16.7% in the first quarter and 27.7% in the half, that’s exactly what the star point guard did.

“I just needed to see one go in,” Paul said, “And then the basket started opening up.”

Paul finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the Clippers’ 100-86 win over their Western Conference rivals on Christmas evening.

Paul and the Warriors’ Draymond Green were exchanging words throughout the game. When Paul was asked what was said, he joked that the two competitors were exchanging pleasantries: “He was saying ‘Merry Christmas’ and he told me to tell Little Chris Merry Christmas.”