The Houston Rockets are now one win away from earning a trip to the NBA Finals following an ugly but stirring win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals Thursday evening in Houston.
As much as Houston played to lose the game, Golden State pretty much choked it away.
The backdrop here was a hamstring injury star Rockets guard Chris Paul suffered late in the fourth quarter. It’s readily apparent that this is no minor injury.
Chris Paul suffers an injury late in game 5 pic.twitter.com/VLGm7MXklq
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 25, 2018
While noting that Paul will be evaluated again on Friday, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t sound too optimistic. He saw exactly what we saw in the arena and from our television sets at home.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Eric Gordon will move to the role of playmaker if Chris Paul doesn’t return from a hamstring injury in Game 6.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 25, 2018
Mike D’Antoni on Chris Paul’s injury. Said Paul will be re-evaluated tomorrow & if Rockets have to play w/o him he thinks they can. pic.twitter.com/Ro26e6Ljwb
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 25, 2018
With James Harden struggling to the tune of 5-of-21 shooting, Paul picked his game up to avoid a patented third quarter Warriors run. In the end, the All-Star accounted for 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a gutsy effort.
Obviously, there’s no telling the extent of Paul’s injury. But if the video and D’Antoni’s comments tell us anything, he’ll be hard-pressed to play in Game 6 Saturday night in Oakland. If he does, Paul will be severely limited.