The Houston Rockets will head to Oakland in the driver’s seat against the Golden State Warriors after a wild Game 5 victory to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference Finals. While it was certainly a team effort, the heroics of Chris Paul were pivotal in the second half for the home team but, unfortunately, the future Hall of Fame point guard went down in the final seconds with a right hamstring injury.
Chris Paul suffers an injury late in game 5 pic.twitter.com/VLGm7MXklq
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 25, 2018
Paul’s late-game absence did not cost Houston the victory but, as Game 6 looms, head coach Mike D’Antoni expressed that Paul is “worried” about the diagnosis on his injury.
https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/999861903131381760
Official word will not arrive until Friday, though, as Paul was not available to the media after the game as a result of injury treatment.
Paul getting treatment on his right hamstring and will be for quite a while. He will not be available for interviews tonight and no other official updates until tomorrow.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) May 25, 2018
Chris Paul is getting treatment on his right hamstring and will not talk to media tonight. The Rockets will give an update on his status tomorrow.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 25, 2018
With James Harden struggling mightily on the offensive end in Game 5, Paul’s creation ability shined through and, given the way the Rockets operate in pick-and-roll offensively, any absence from one of their lead ball-handlers could be crippling. To that end, D’Antoni indicated that the plan would be for Eric Gordon to take on some, if not all, of Paul’s creation responsibilities should the point guard be unable to play.
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
The Rockets need only one win to advance to the 2018 NBA Finals but, if Paul is unable to go in either of the final two contests, it figures be an uphill climb for Houston. In short, the Rockets will be holding their breath from now until the final diagnosis is levied and, if it is an unfortunate one, the balance of power could shift back to the Warriors, even with a 3-2 deficit.
