The Point God has been activated.
Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul led all scorers with 16 points in the first half of Game 5 of the first round against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.
The Suns led the Pelicans 59-46 after the first two quarters of play at Footprint Center and held on for a 112-97 win to take a 3-2 series lead.
Paul finished the first half shooting 6-for-12 from the field (50%) to go along with six assists, one steal and one block.
But the Suns starting point guard wasn’t the only PG to make an impact early in Game 5.
Backup point guard Cam Payne also got it going with seven points off the bench to finish the first half tied as Phoenix’s third-leading scorer behind Paul and Deandre Ayton.
Payne shot 66.7% from the field on 2-of-3 attempts and went 1-for-1 from three.
Ayton finished the half with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor (75%) to go along with five rebounds and two assists.