Jrue Holiday vs. Chris Paul
The marquee matchup of this Bucks-Suns NBA Finals series will be between both team’s point guards. Jrue Holiday of the Bucks and Chris Paul of the Suns are two of the better known two-way guards in this league and now, they will fight each other for a chance to win a championship!
Whether you look at this matchup as Jrue Holiday vs. Chris Paul or the opposite way as Chris Paul vs. Jrue Holiday, it doesn’t really matter as both ways, this will be a very intriguing showdown to watch in this series given how well both Holiday and Paul play on both ends of the floor.
So far in the playoffs, Jrue Holiday is averaging 17.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.5 steals and is shooting 42.3% from three-point range. He has struggled from deep, shooting just 29.9% from three-point range, but he is starting to play a lot better, especially with Giannis Antetokounmpo being out.
In his last two games, Holiday is averaging 35% from three-point range and he has also looked much more efficient offensively. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hawks, Holiday averaged 22.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 10.0 assists and shot 46.4% from the floor. He even had 27 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists in the Bucks’ Game 6 victory that sent them to the NBA Finals!
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Jrue Holiday is really starting to play well at the right time, but Chris Paul is also playing some of the best basketball of his extensive career right now as well. In the playoffs, Paul is averaging 18.1 points, 8.7 assists, 1.4 steals and is shooting 40.5% from three-point range, but he has really stepped up for the Suns over the last handful of games.
In fact, in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Finals, Chris Paul single-handedly carried the Suns to the NBA Finals by scoring a playoff career-high 41 points and making a career-high 7 three-pointers!
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Paul has been the leader of the Phoenix Suns all season long and now in his first NBA Finals of his career, he may be saving his best performances for last. This matchup between Holiday and Paul is surely going to be a battle within the war in this series and will ultimately help decide which team comes out on top.
Point guard play wins championships and whichever point guard is able to take advantage of the other could very well win this series for their team. Jrue Holiday and Chris Paul are two of the best two-way guards in the league and they will continue to display their versatility in this NBA Finals series.