The Western Conference Finals just got that much more interesting, but not for the reason that you think, it’s because of that one word no team wants to hear: injury.
Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul will miss Saturday’s Game Six against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a right hamstring strain, and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Houston. Paul suffered the injury in the final minutes of Game Five, and was helped off the court; depending on how serious the MRI results come back, it is possible that Paul may not be available for a potential Game Seven if it comes down to that.
This injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Rockets, as they currently sit one win away from their first appearance in the NBA Finals since the 1994-95 season. For Paul, this is his first trip to the conference finals in his 13-year career; and he was making the most of it, averaging 19.8 points per game to go along with 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists. One could argue that Paul was the deciding factor for Houston in both Games Four and Five. However, Paul has been known for being somewhat injury-prone in his career, and this couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The pressure will be on Clint Capela, Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker to provide scoring help for James Harden if the team is going to win Game Six in Oakland. If Golden State is smart, they’ll isolate James Harden and force the rest of the Rockets team to beat them. Without Paul to offset Harden, the strategy should be easier to pull off.
Houston has shown that it can win without Paul in the regular season, but now they are truly under intense pressure: this series has essentially become a one-game series. If Houston doesn’t beat Golden State in Oakland on Saturday and Paul isn’t available for Game Seven, the Warriors will more than likely end up representing the Western Conference in the Finals for the fourth straight season.
