CP3 overtakes Nash as oldest player with 30-point, 10-assist playoff game

Chris Paul turned back the clock in a massive way Sunday.

The Phoenix Suns point guard scored 30 points - including 19 in the fourth quarter - to go along with 10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals, and one block in 35 minutes to lead his squad to a 110-99 Game 1 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Paul, 36, became the oldest player ever to record a 30-point, 10-assist game in the playoffs, per ESPN Stats and Info. The 12-time All-Star unseated Steve Nash, who also set the previous mark as a member of the Suns.

Oldest players with 30 points, 10 assists in playoffs

(Source: Stathead)

"We had a chance to watch every playoff game before we played and see the energy in all those games and to know the way that teams don't give up, especially in the playoffs," Paul said postgame on "Inside the NBA" about his late heroics. "Knowing that (the Pelicans) are coached by Willie (Green), you gotta stay the course.

"As soon as you let up, teams will make a run on you."

Paul's fourth-quarter outburst came at a timely moment for Phoenix, which was attempting to weather a Pelicans run. Entering the final frame, New Orleans had cut what was once a 23-point deficit to just eight after Larry Nance Jr. beat the third-quarter buzzer with a layup.

But Paul began to take over early in the fourth, scoring 15 points within the first five minutes to return the Suns to a 16-point lead. The Pelicans trimmed the gap to nine with just under two minutes remaining but failed to get any closer.

"That's just classic Chris," Suns head coach Monty Williams said about Paul's performance, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. "At the right time, he takes over, and we needed it."

Game 2 of the series takes place Tuesday in Phoenix.