'We won': Suns All-Star Chris Paul talks play in opener, watching comeback finish and Cameron Payne

PORTLAND – Chris Paul closed out Friday morning’s shooting competition between Devin Booker, Cameron Payne and himself with nine straight makes from 3 – and a message.

“I can still shoot it a little bit,” Paul said.

Paul is coming off a 1-of-6 night (0-of-2 from 3) in Wednesday’s opener, which Phoenix won, 107-105, over Dallas in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference semifinals the Mavericks won in seven.

It’s a make-or-miss league, but Paul watching the final 6:41 of Wednesday's comeback victory from the bench was surprising as Suns coach Monty Williams put Cameron Payne in and stuck with his backup one the rest of the game.

MORE: 5 takeaways from Suns' comeback win over Mavericks

“I didn’t think it was that big of a decision, but I guess it is because it’s Chris,” said Williams, who was looking to reinsert Paul at the three-minute mark, but liked how Payne was playing.

Payne scored five of his seven points in the fourth as he gave Phoenix the lead, 101-100, on a driving layup with 3:10 left.

Paul scored just six points, had nine assists, committed an uncharacteristic three turnovers in 30 minutes.

The Republic sat down with the veteran point guard after the morning shootaround at Portland's Moda Center to talk about his play in the opener and more heading into Friday night’s game against the Blazers (1-0).

Q: What’s your routine after the game when you know you can shoot it better and do other things better?

CP: “We won.”

Q: Understood, but are you harder on yourself after a game or does the win erase how you played?

CP: “It doesn’t erase. I shot six shots. It’s not like I shot 15 of them. It wasn’t all bad.”

Q: Oh no. You had nine assists. Coach Williams said you were engaged late in the game with Payne out there. What was it like to see Payne in that situation that 99% of the time, you’re going to be on the floor?

CP: “All the time if Cam is in or somebody else is in and they’re rolling, I’m always like, ‘Coach, let them keep going.’ They were rolling so why not let them finish the game?”

(Phoenix closed the game with Damion Lee, who scored 11 points in the fourth with his last two being the game winner with 9.7 seconds left, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Devin Booker and Payne).

Q: When people see you, it’s like, you’re the closer. So, Chris should be out there.

CP: “Yeah, but Coach, that’s his job, too. For me, during the course of a season, we’re going to need everybody. I think that’s more evident than anything. We won the game.”

Q: Watching you engage with others in terms of what you see during the game. Is that just a constant for you or do you pick spots when you feel like you have to talk to guys?

CP: “I pick spots, but being around the game for so long, sometimes you take stuff for granted and you assume that other people know it. It’s always time to give that knowledge when you can.”

Q: Lastly, what did you think of Payne in that situation?

CP: “We’ve been together for three years. I know what Cam is capable of. I wasn’t surprised.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chris Paul fine with Phoenix Suns finishing opener win without him