The Houston Rockets’ win in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals came at a price.
Chris Paul exited Houston’s 98-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, and the Rockets announced Friday the All-Star point guard will miss Saturday’s Game 6 with a hamstring strain.
Paul arguably has been the Rockets’ best player against the Warriors in the conference finals. He’s averaging nearly 37 minutes per night, scoring 19.8 points to go along with 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest. He’s also playing well on the defensive end, grabbing nine steals so far.
Eliminating the Warriors on the road will be tough enough, but without Paul, even more pressure is on James Harden for a bounce-back effort. The Rockets won Game 5 in spite of a woeful shooting performance from Harden, who went 5-for-21 from the floor, missing all 11 3-point attempts he took.
