Chris Paul Out Game 6 With Right Hamstring Strain

It’s a melancholy morning for Houston Rockets fans, who can’t really savor the Game 5 win over the Warriors without knowing the status of Chris Paul’s hamstring.

Not only has the point guard regained his form, averaging 21.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists this postseason, but he’s finally helped put together the puzzle alongside James Harden to make the Rockets as complete as they’ve been in decades.

“I hate it for him, above all”, coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Told by ESPN that these Rockets are not the Grizzlies, Green responded assertively: “We’ll be back here for Game 7”. “If he isn’t, it’s time for somebody else to step up”. The Rockets lead the Western Conference Finals 3-2 as series heads to Oakland on Saturday.

“It’s obviously not something we wanted”, D’Antoni said before Friday’s practice. “We want to keep our same swagger, our same positive energy”. It’s only right that we do it a different way to set a new chapter. His sophomore year at Arizona State, Harden led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament, and once he got there he laid a massive egg: 1-of-8 for nine points in the first round, 2-of-10 for 10 points in the second round. With Paul, Houston has a chance to gut out a fourth win and reach the Finals for the first time since 1995.

Rockets point guard Chris Paul will miss Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Warriors with a strained hamstring, reports Yahoo! Should they swap him into a reserve role in favor of Gordon?

“Whoever is out, it’s nearly like the next guy up, and everybody finds a way”, Gordon said. It definitely did not go unnoticed, and that included Curry himself.

“I think the way we’ve played the last two games, we’ve played good enough to win and just haven’t gotten the job done”, Curry said after Game 5.

Late in Thursday night’s game, Paul, who happens to be one of James’ best friends, suffered a hamstring injury on a drive attempt to the hoop.

Replacing Paul’s point production and defensive work will require greater effort from Rockets standouts Gordon, P.J. Tucker and Clint Capela.