The Houston Rockets took a massive first quarter lead in Game 6, but fell apart in the second half as the Warriors stormed back to win by 29 and force a Game 7 back in Houston.
With Chris Paul out, the Rockets simply couldn’t sustain their hot start and ultimately Golden State was able to steamroll them. After that result, any questions about the importance of Paul have been answered and all eyes are on whether his hamstring will be healed enough that he’ll be able to give it a go and get back in the lineup for Game 7
On Sunday, Mike D’Antoni held a conference call and offered an update on Paul’s status, noting the star point guard was officially listed as “questionable” for Monday night, but that a determination wouldn’t be made until late Monday afternoon and possibly up to game time.
Mike D’Antoni says @CP3 will still be listed as questionable going into Monday’s Game 7, but final determination may not be made until Monday afternoon when team doctors are expected to check him out.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) May 27, 2018
D’Antoni, on conference call: "I don’t think he’s tested it at all. He’s just getting treatment and making sure it calms down and everything." Says treatment is just about 24/7.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) May 27, 2018
Paul obviously wants to get back on the court to help his team, but hamstring injuries are notoriously difficult to manage. Houston’s staff will do everything they can to get Paul feeling well enough to test it, but that doesn’t sound like it’ll happen until late on Monday when they’ve given it maximum amount of time to heal.
If Paul does give it a go, one would expect the Warriors to try and target him to test his movement abilities. If he doesn’t, they’ll need a performance from their role players like they got in Game 2 to pick up the slack in production.
