The Rockets advance to the Western Conference Finals

Chris Paul has finally done it.

Chris Paul scored 41 points to lead Houston into the NBA Western Conference finals on Tuesday with a series-clinching 112-102 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Paul was at his best in the fourth quarter, when his scoring flurry served as the knockout punches. Paul easily reached that level with just one season of playing alongside James Harden, proving that he made the right decision to demand a trade to the Rockets last summer. “He called everybody off”. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. I don’t care what you say, if he has that look in his eyes every single night, he’s a problem”.

While making sure this series didn’t head back to Utah, CP3 was superb, scoring 41 points with 10 assists and seven rebounds while shooting 8-of-10 from 3-point range.

The Jazz struggled from the 3-point line in the first two periods as Houston turned up the defensive intensity. Paul hit a ridiculous eight of ten three-pointers, and he wasn’t alone.

The Jazz have overcome injuries to several key players all season long, but Tuesday night was a bridge too far.

“(Chris) just willed us to win”, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters (USAToday). After a moment in the third quarter when he chewed out Tucker, he found himself taking a step back, and then telling his teammate everything was good. Both offenses woke up, but Houston’s woke up more. He did his best to spoil things for Paul and the Rockets with a nuclear performance after halftime. He had 20 points in the fourth quarter alone, all wiping out the third-quarter brilliance of Mitchell, who had 22 points in the previous period. Heading into the final quarter, it was Utah in front, 78-75. Defensive stalwart Dante Exum missed Game 5 due to a hamstring injury suffered in Game 4.

Rockets star James Harden, who was kept quiet with a relatively modest haul of 18 points, paid tribute to Paul’s performance.

Stay tuned for The J-Notes for more on the season that was for the Utah Jazz. Thanks to Paul, they’ll do it on a resounding note, and with much of the pressure off, depending who you ask. “We executed and did a reasonable job, but they played well”. “That’s all fine and dandy in January, but now they got us, and we got them”.

The series price grew to Golden State -190 in the first two hours after it had posted.

As the narrative goes, the Warriors got the job done, withstanding a late rally by the Pelicans to win 113-104.

“They have made it known that their team is built to beat us”, Green said Tuesday after the Warriors eliminated the New Orleans Pelicans in five games.