The Golden State Warriors’ trade for Chris Paul mostly looks like a success so far. The 38-year-old point guard has 80 assists to 12 turnovers to start the season, giving the Warriors a much-needed steady hand to help run the offense when Stephen Curry is off the floor. The Warriors have still lost four of their last five games and plenty of real problems, but swapping out Jordan Poole for CP3 looks like a good move to this point.
Chris Paul dove at Mike Conley’s knees for another dirty play during Warriors-Wolves
Chris Paul can’t stop making borderline dirty plays
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
As he enters the final years of his legendary NBA career, Paul has changed in some ways but remains very much himself in others. For example: CP3 can’t really shoot reliably with range anymore; he’s making just 16 percent of his threes to start the season. On the other hand, Paul is still good for a few borderline dirty plays per month. The latest happened during the Warriors’ matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
During the fourth quarter, with the Warriors trailing big, Paul dove for a loose ball and took out Wolves guard Mike Conley Jr. at the knees in the process. Was running into Conley like this really necessary? Watch the play here and judge for yourself.
Here’s another angle:
The Wolves beat the Warriors, 116-110. The two teams play again on Tuesday. Will there be any retribution for CP3 after diving at Conley’s knees?
Just remember this moment for later in the season. Minnesota looks like a force to be reckoned with right now. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the Wolves have conference finals potential in the West. The Warriors will probably figure things out, because that’s usually what happens. What a fun playoff series this would be.
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