CP3 passes Jackson, Nash for No. 3 in assists

Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul moved into No. 3 on the all-time assists list with his eighth against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.

With 1:34 left in the second quarter, on a 3-pointer by Jae Crowder, Paul notched career assist No. 10,336 to push past Suns legend Steve Nash for sole possession of third place.

He passed Mark Jackson with his seventh assist of the night, his final one of the first quarter. Paul started the night six assists behind Jackson (10,334) and seven behind Nash (10,335).

He finished the night with 18 assists in the Suns’ 112-100 win to give him 10,346 for his career.

Earlier this season, Paul became the first player in NBA history with 20,000 career points and 10,000 career assists.

The assist that moved Paul up to No. 3 came against his original team, although it was the New Orleans Hornets back when he was drafted there in 2005.

In his first six seasons with New Orleans, Paul had 4,228 assists and led the league in assists per game in 2007-08 and 2008-09. From there, he moved on to the LA Clippers, where he totaled 4,023 assists in six seasons and again was a two-time league leader in assists per game in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Paul’s 9.4 assists per game average is fourth all time in the NBA behind Magic Johnson (11.2), John Stockton (10.5) and Oscar Robertson (9.5).

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