2017 NBA Playoffs: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers force Game 7 against Utah Jazz

Chris Paul finished with 29 points, 8 assists and 2 steals as the Los Angeles Clippers pulled off an impressive 98-93 road victory in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Friday. With the victory, the Clippers, playing without all-star forward Blake Griffin, forced a Game 7 back at Staples Center on Sunday

In Griffin's absence, Paul has been doubling up as the team's No. 1 scoring option and playmaker. Since Griffin's injury in Game 3, Paul has dropped 34, 27, 28 and 29 points in the last four games to keep the Clippers afloat against a defensive-minded and physical Jazz team. Even more remarkably, Paul has averaged 27.3 points and 10.0 assists during the six postseason games, as compared to his regular-season aggregate of 18.1 points and 9.0 assists. Paul has stepped up his game when it matters most.

During Friday's win, Paul got useful contributions from DeAndre Jordan (13 points, 18 rebounds) Austin Rivers (13 points, 4 rebounds) and Jamal Crawford (12 points, 3 assists) but he has had to carry an additional load on both ends of the floor. Coach Doc Rivers acknowledged that the Clippers would be knocked out the playoffs if not for Paul's heart and hustle. "It's just Chris. He is as competitive as a human being as I've ever been around. When you put that with the talent and the will, that's why he has performances like this in big games. Chris was amazing. He just willed the game for us," Rivers said, via ESPN.

With 1:29 left in the game, the Clippers had a comfortable lead of 96-86 until Jazz star Gordon Hayward made seven straight points to bring with Jazz within three. Thereafter, Joe Johnson missed a clutch three-pointer during the final few seconds, allowing the Clippers to escape Salt Lake City with a hard-fought win. "We do it together. I came to (Jordan) during one of those timeouts in the fourth and said let's find a way. We've been in these situations time and time again. Some of us since we were kids playing AAU. You've just been in that situation. High school basketball. College basketball. It's the same game, it's just a lot more people at the games. You just go out there and try to stay in the moment," Paul said after the victory.

The Utah Jazz should have enough reasons to be disappointed. They jumped out to a 22-13 lead at the start of the game before missing several wide-open three-point attempts, allowing Clippers to go on a 11-0 run. "Some days are diamonds, some days are stones. We didn't shoot the ball well tonight. We got the looks we wanted, which is a positive thing for us. I think that's the important part, we found the open shots, found the good looks. Dug ourselves a hole there and it's hard to dig out of it. I don't think we were nervous, we just couldn't find it tonight," said Hayward, who finished with a tally of 31 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

The 2017 NBA Playoffs will continue Sunday with Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards followed by Game 7 of the first-round series between the Jazz and Clippers. The winner of the Jazz vs Clippers series will face the mighty Golden State Warriors in the second round.