He was moving tentatively, trying to get guys involved, and his shot was way flat, ostensibly with less lift from his ankle. But one thing he did from the get go was fly around on D. It’s like he lulled the Wolves into thinking he couldn’t move right, and then was just a blur around the court, stealing balls left and right (I think he had 5 at half).

But then at the end of the second half, he ran down court in the final seconds, and drew a dumb foul on his just past half-court buzzer beater. Three free throws later, the Bees were within 2 and a horrible first half suddenly looked like a very manageable game.

And the second half was a whole new story; Chris starting making impossible passes, his guys starting making more shots, and the assists racked up. Somehow, he snagged 6 boards in the way, and ended up with 3 more steals. What began as me wondering why, why, he couldn’t wait one more game and, coincidentally, give it several more days, ended with, “yup, the magic is back.”

Chris Paul, the Master of Steals, the Grief Merchant, The One, call him what you will, was back. And it was awesome.