Chris Paul’s clutch shots against the Bucks show why the Rockets needed him

Rockets vs. Bucks went down to the wire on Saturday and it looked like James Harden ran out of gas down the stretch. It’s hard to fault him: they were in the second game of a back-to-back.

But Chris Paul came to the rescue late, hitting back-to-back, dagger mid-range jump shots to seal Houston’s 115-111 win over Milwaukee.

And after hitting the shot, he told Harden, “I got you.”

Harden hasn’t been the best performer in clutch time. His vanishing act in last year’s Western Conference Semifinals against a Spurs team without Kawhi Leonard is proof.

But Paul is a bona fide leader who improves when the game is on the line. Houston’s record this season is proof, too.

The Rockets are undefeated in games that CP3 has played in since returning from a knee injury. They’ve rattled off 13 straight wins and are in play to seriously win 21 straight games until their Jan. 4 matchup against Golden State.

Paul has been brilliant since taking the court in Houston red. He’s averaging 17 points, 9.5 assists and five rebounds a game while flirting with 50-40-90 club shooting percentages. And even though the Rockets rarely find themselves in crunch situations like they did against the Bucks, Paul shoots 66 percent from the field when it matters most.

A big concern entering the regular season was how both Harden and Paul would fit together with only one basketball to share. But as the Rockets move on to a 13-game winning streak, CP3 has hushed those doubts with three words:

“I got you.”