I have seen many of the NBA’s elite players play in Washington this year, from Kevin Garnett, to LeBron James, to Tim Duncan to Devin Harris, and I can honestly say that none of the impressed me more than Chris Paul did during his team’s 109-98 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Paul’s 30 point, 13 assist, 10 rebound performance marked his second triple-double against the Wizards this season, and his sixth overall.  He accomplished this feat despite having only two assists, a rebound and no points after the first quarter.  Paul scored on hard drives to the basket, he scored on jumpers off the pick and roll, and when his shot wasn’t there, he always seemed to know the exact pass to throw to the right teammate.  On defense, he constantly disrupted the flow of the Wizards’ offense, and then to add insult to injury, he’d grab the rebound and start the fastbreak.  It was a dominant performance in all facets of the game.

At the end of this masterful performance, Paul addressed the media to talk about the dangers of playing a team like the Wizards, his approach to each game and how easy it is for him to get a double double on any given night.

Reporter: What was the difference between the way you all came out in the first and the way you all played in the second?
Chris Paul: We just played a little better when we needed to.  We got off to a slow start–this[the Washington Wizards]is a team that’s dangerous you know?  They really have nothing to lose right now and they’re talented and they have a lot guys that can handle the ball, and we started defending at the right time.

Reporter: Talk about how the defense opened up the offense.
Chris Paul: Yeah, everybody knows we’re at our best when we’re in transition.  And when we force teams into tough shots and they miss, now we’re coming at you, fastbreaking, pick and rolls, Tyson[Chandler] rolling to the rim, Rasual [Butler] making shots, D-West [David West] making shots.  That’s how we got some separation.

Reporter: Did you get hurt at all when you took that tumble in the table?
Chris Paul: When?

Reporter: I guess it was in the third quarter.
Chris Paul: Oh oh, no, I didn’t get hurt.

Reporter: Were you and [Wizards coach Mike] Tapscott talking at the end of the third quarter when you made that fadeaway?
Chris Paul: No, I know the [Wizards] assistant coach, what’s his name?

Reporters: Randy Ayers
Chris Paul: Yeah, I know him real well.  He knows my dad and so I’ve known him since my rookie year.  I’ve seen his son play and all that stuff.

Reporter: Now you had a triple-double, you got that last rebound with about 23 seconds left.
Chris Paul: Yeah, its crazy. I don’t know but I think I might have had a triple-double the last time I played them too. (15 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds during their first meeting)  I don’t know, I’m just glad we won.

Reporter: For this game, you really didn’t start putting up numbers until midway into the second quarter
Chris Paul: Yeah, that happens a lot.  You know in our games, I don’t score too much in the first quarter.  I’m always trying to let my teammates get going.  You know David West, he’s an All-Star, in a few games he’s scored our first 12-14 [points].  So coach usually looks at me, and says be more aggressive so that’s what I tried to go.

Reporter: How much did the three-point[shot] help tonight?
Chris Paul: Man, it helped a lot. Rasual (Butler) shot the ball great from the three-point line, 6-of-13.  But he was down on himself because he felt like he didn’t shoot a great percentage, but the thing was, his threes were very timely.  He hit them at the right time and so did James Posey.

Reporter: Chris, can you talk about when Mike James accidentally pushed you into the scorer’s table?  It looked like it kind of pissed you off a bit, is that true?
Chris Paul: I don’t know, I really didn’t think of it too much.  I just knew I was trying to get a steal or whatever, and I knew Mike was going to try to hold me back a little bit.  And before that point, I really was just tuned in like this is not a game we can afford to lose.

Reporter: Do you kind of know when your team needs you to turn it on?
Chris Paul: Somewhat, but I try not to be one of those switch-turn-on players.  As a point guard, you gotta’ start off the game a certain way.  I didn’t do it tonight, the defensive end starts and ends with me, so in the second half I came out and put a little more pressure on their[the Wizards] point guards and it fed to the rest of the teammates.

Reporter: Chris, you’re leading the league in triple-doubles this season (LeBron James tied him with his sixth the following night).  Are you doing anything special to try to do a little bit of everything or are you just playing your game and everything is coming to you?
Chris Paul: You know what? Just about every night I’m going to get a double-double, just about, depending on how we’re making shots, because I have the ball in my hand so much.  So on nights when teams miss long shots, then I get a few more rebounds and that’s when the triple-double comes in.  And just about every night I’m surrounded by so many great scorers, I’m going to have 10 points and 10 assists.  And in 6 games(this year) I got 10 rebounds.

Reporter: Might we ever see 10 steals?
Chris Paul: I don’t know about all that, that’s hard.