Chris Paul passes 21K-point milestone in Phoenix Suns' win over Timberwolves

Chris Paul's career isn't in decline like many people have speculated about him at age 37.

He's just impacting the game as the league's best in assists (10.8 per game) like he was last season without the speed and high scoring that people grew accustomed to earlier in his Hall of Fame-bound career.

He had 15 points, a game-high 12 assists, eight rebounds, and three steals in the Suns' 116-107 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-4) on Tuesday. That was their fifth consecutive victory and now have the West's best record at 6-1.

Through the Suns' past two victories, Paul has had 27 assists, just one turnover and has averaged a team-high 19 plus-minus.

“Twenty-seven assists, one turnover in two games. That’s just Chris," Suns coach Monty Williams said in the postgame. "He knows where the holes are. He knows how to find guys because he knows where they are. He knows every position on the floor.”

And Paul continues to reach unchartered territory.

Recap: 5 takeaways from Suns cruising past Timberwolves for fifth straight win

In addition to his second straight double-double in points and assists, Paul surpassed 21,000 career points when he dribbled on a rope to his midrange sweet spot in the right lane in a pick-and-roll with Bismack Biyombo (eight points, four rebounds, four blocks) near the fourth quarter's midpoint against Minnesota to put Phoenix ahead 96-88.

Paul became the only player to reach that milestone and have 11,000 assists, the latter he got just one week ago on Oct. 23 in their road win against the Los Angeles Clippers. 

But Paul claimed that he doesn't know where he was in the scoring record books before the game, just like his 11K assist mark he didn't know until after that game.

“I ain’t know that but it’s cool, man," Paul said about reaching 21,000 points. "I’m always extremely grateful and blessed to not only still be in the league but being able to play. So let’s keep it going.”

Paul has dished out at least nine assists in all the Suns' games thus far this season.

But he's a humble guy who doesn't look for his stats as much as finding the open man to knock down shots, even when his own shot isn't falling.

Paul's shot was off through the first three quarters against Minnesota, going 2-for-9 overall and 0-for-4 from deep with just seven points.

But Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges had hot hands that fed off Paul from the start. Johnson had a game-high 29 points (10-for-17 FG, 7-for-11 from the 3) and Bridges had 19 points on 70% shooting.

“Cam spaces the floor four or five feet past the 3-point line, so that allows for Chris to have space,” Williams said about whether Chris looked for Johnson from play design or taking what Minnesota's defense allowed. “But in reference to Chris finding Cam, I think Chris is just looking for the open man. It just happened to be Cam tonight. It would be hard for me to explain to you what Chris is doing out there. I watch it all the time, and I’m not gonna brag, he’s just really good."

Sixteen of Johnson's points and four of his seven made 3s were assisted by Paul, and six of the Suns' season-high 17 made from beyond the arc (they also took a season-high 43 attempts from deep) were from his assists as well.

“After all these years, I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned, especially playing on a team with a lot of shooters is we practice too much to stop shooting. We gotta keep shooting because we’re getting the shots that we want.”

After the Timberwolves trimmed the Suns' 11-point lead at the start of the fourth to two at the 8:35 mark, Paul found his rhythm two minutes later and then never let the lead go past under eight.

In addition to Bridges and Johnson's scoring and assists in the final minutes, Paul got two assists from Biyombo's hook shot and dunk, Paul drained two straight shots from midrange and beyond the arc to put the lead up to 14 with just over two minutes to play,

“Let’s execute, let’s get the reads. But a lot of it goes back to defense," Paul said about what the Suns said in their huddles after letting their biggest second-half lead of 18 points dwindle in the final period.

"They got back in the game because we weren’t getting stops. So we know what we like when we play in transitions, so we just want to get stops and get out.”

Williams adjusted Paul's minutes and role as the Suns' primary ball handler, allowing Bridges and Johnson to also initiate the offense.

But Paul playing off the ball more and not always bringing the ball up to start the plays all game and wearing him out makes him equally efficient in being at the right place at the right time for himself and his teammates.

“I think it’s a healthy balance of everybody taking on more, and then at the same time him continuing to be him," Johnson said about Paul. "He’s a Hall of Fame point guard, so you don’t want to take him out of the game. But he’s doing a tremendous job of still managing the game from every spot that he’s in.

"He communicates, gets everybody in the right spot, and even if he’s not actively getting assists and points — which he still is getting a lot of assists and points  — he still is a big part of what we do, just tinkering with everything.”

Have tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Paul hits 21K-point milestone, 12 assists in Suns win over Minnesota