HOUSTON (AP) Chris Paul is an ultra-intense competitor, often the most passionate player on the court.
But even for his Houston Rockets teammates, what they saw from him Tuesday night was on another level.
Paul scored a playoff career-high 41 points with eight 3-pointers to finally reach the conference finals, helping the Rockets eliminate the Utah Jazz 112-102 in Game 5.
The Rockets will meet Golden State after the Warriors closed out their series against the New Orleans Pelicans later Tuesday night. Top-seeded Houston will host the series opener Monday night.
It will be Houstons second trip to the Western Conference finals in four years and the first ever for Paul. The point guard has been panned for failing to get past the second round in his nine previous trips to the postseason.
Paul, a nine-time All-Star in his first season with Houston after an offseason trade from the Los Angeles Clippers, also had 10 assists and seven rebounds. His previous career-best in the playoffs was 35 points, which he accomplished three times
The 33-year-old scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, answering everything the Jazz tried to do in order to close out the game and series.
Paul had been in the conference semifinals four other times before finally getting over the hump this season. He lost to the Spurs 4-3 in 2008 while with New Orleans and was swept by San Antonio in 2012 with the Clippers. He also lost 4-2 to the Thunder while with Los Angeles, and his Clippers had a 3-1 lead in 2015 before Houston won the next three games.
The Rockets were able to close out the series despite Harden, the frontrunner for MVP, being under the weather. Coach Mike DAntoni disclosed that Harden wasnt feeling well Tuesday, and he looked a little worn down postgame. But when asked what was wrong with him, Harden said he was fine.
Paul said he was just trying to pick up the slack with Harden not feeling like himself.
Houston lost to the Warriors 4-1 when they last reached the conference finals in 2015. They believe theyre much better suited to match up with Golden State this time around, but know it wont be easy to dethrone the defending champions.
Theyve been built to beat everybody, general manager Daryl Morey said. Theyre going to be a tough matchup. Well have to bring our A-plus game and I think our guys are ready.
