Suns Notes: Paul, Booker, Green, Finals

Chris Paul scored 41 points, the Suns dispatched of the Clippers in the Western Conference finals, and the 28-year championship appearance drought is over.

“I just kept thinking, if we do what we’re supposed to do, I get the last laugh,” Paul said. “So you stay the course long enough, you break ’em, and that’s what we did.”

Paul was able to overcome some doubts, given that he’s 36 and this will be his first Finals appearance. For the future Hall of Famer, about the only that was missing was a shot at a title ring.

“There were questions about his production before tonight, and in my heart I felt like it was a matter of time,” Suns coach Monty Williams said of Paul. “I didn’t know it was going to be like that, but that’s who Chris is. He was tired and he was still making those kinds of plays — getting to the basket, the 3s, orchestrating everything.”

More from Phoenix

• Star shooting guard Devin Booker said advancing to the Finals feels especially good given that this is his first postseason. “I tell people all the time, Phoenix is my third home,” Booker said. “And they have embraced me that way since Day one. I put my head down, I worked and I’ve been through a lot of (expletive) honestly. But, just being who I am and seeing the bigger picture, having the tunnel vision you know, what this can be.”
• Suns assistant Willie Green is a coaching candidate around the league and has been linked to the Magic vacancy. But he is no rush to lead and just fine staying with the Suns, per AZCentral.com.
• The Suns’ first trip to the Finals since 1993 is one that fans will never forget, opined Dan Bickley of ArizonaSports.com. And their story is improbable and unique, wrote ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.