Chris Paul waited 16 years for his first NBA Finals game and seized the moment.
Shaking off a left ankle turn and a sore left hand, the 36-year-old future Hall of Fame point guard scored 16 of his game-high 32 points on seven shots in a third quarter that blew open what to that point was an evenly matached series opener, and his Phoenix Suns rolled to a 118-105 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Suns host the Bucks again Thursday for Game 2 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
In the hour before tipoff on Tuesday, Milwaukee gave Giannis Antetokounmpo the green light to play on his hyperextended left knee and ran the first play of the game to get him a rolling alley-oop attempt at the rim.