Chris Paul carried the Clippers to a Game 3 victory on Friday, pouring in 24 of his 34 points after halftime as the Clips overcame a 14 point deficit on the road.

Paul also added seven rebounds, 10 assists, two steals, two triples and just two turnovers in 36 minutes. He shot 12-of-22 and was perfect on eight trips to the charity stripe. Paul was absolutely masterful in this one, settling his team down when it seemed like the injury to Blake Griffin could turn the tide of the series. He had the game in the palm of his hands in the fourth, dissecting a strong Jazz defense for easy buckets. This is the type of performance that should shut up the take artists who keep trotting out “CP3 isn’t a winner” falsehoods, but they’ll never truly be silenced until the Clippers make a seriously deep playoff push. Paul was simply excellent in this one and is in line for some heavenly fantasy lines so long as Griffin remains out – not that he was some schmo beforehand.