2. The absence of Chris Paul looms large
On a night in which the Rockets could not get shots to fall, one cannot help but wonder what the outcome would have been with Chris Paul on the floor, as the player who came into the season with something to prove was unable to rise up to the occasion and deliver for his team when they desperately needed him to save their season.
Paul, a nine-time All-Star, missed the final two games of the Western Conference Finals after injuring his right hamstring during the final minutes of regulation in Houston’s Game 5 victory.
Always will wonder what could've been if CP3 was healthy. If there ever was a series that demonstrated the importance of brining Chris Paul to Houston and playing a HOF PG for 48 minutes, this was it. The Harden/Paul offensive dichotomy was sorely missed in Games 6/7. #Rockets
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) May 29, 2018
Chris Paul led the NBA in Real Plus-Minus this season.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) May 29, 2018
The Rockets were 53-7 (regular and postseason) in games in which Paul, James Harden and Clint Capela all played. They were 23-16 in all other games.
They were 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals with that trio.
"“It sucks,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon when asked about Paul’s absence in the lineup. “Because you know you could win this series if we had just one playmaker.” “If we had Chris, if he was out there, we’d have been playing on Thursday. It’s just tough.”"
Although nobody knows for sure how the series might have played out with Paul on the floor, one could easily seek to argue that his presence would have certainly made the Rockets a much more formidable challenger to Golden State’s reign atop of the Western Conference. While also forcing them to raise their level of play late in the process.
The Rockets were 5-2 against the Warriors this season when James Harden and Chris Paul both played. They were 0-3 when one of their two star guards was out.
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) May 29, 2018
Without Chris Paul, when the 3-pointers weren’t falling, when the offense got tight in that second half, there wasn’t a secondary ball-handler to take the pressure off. That’s why CP3 was brought here. Get into the right mid-range, his preferred spot, knock down the jumper.
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) May 29, 2018
Through 15 games on the 2018 NBA playoffs, Paul averaged 21.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, and proved to be a pivotal component to Houston in his first ever conference finals — scoring 47 points and dishing out 10 assists combined in Game 4 and 5, to help the Rockets take a 3-2 series lead and nearly reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995.
These matters can only force many basketball fans around the country, including Paul and the rest of his teammates, to wonder what possibly could have been over this coming offseason.