Last night the Houston Rockets lost two things. The first one is the game against the Miami Heat, 101-99, which isn’t that much alarming. The second one is the key guy in organizing their game, Chris Paul. Now that is something which sets the alarm of in Texas.
The Rockets have been magnificent over the last ten days. They were demolishing its rival with a fantastic basketball, having five straight wins, indicating that they just might be heading up to the place where most of the fans expected to see them.
To the top.
The way they handled the opponents, who were pretty much respectable names, Blazers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Jazz, and Wizards, was telling us that the last year’s Western Conference finalists recovered from a bad start and that they are ready to start pounding once again.
However, the latest development is going to be a huge blow for them, as the Rockets lost one of their most valuable players, Chris Paul. The 9-time All-Star injured his hamstring and left the game against Miami during the second quarter.
.@KristenLedlow gives an update on Chris Paul, who suffered a strained left hamstring and will not return to tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/OLTHVEIymG
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 21, 2018
At that moment the guests from Texas had a 45-38 lead. Led by Harden, who scored 11 points in the opening quarter, Rockets were dominating on the court in that period, winning it 33-21. Now everything would have been like in the recent games if it weren’t for Paul’s setback. It seems that he affected the team mentally more than any other way.
They’ve managed to keep the lead until the start of the second half when Miami makes an 8-0 run and takes the momentum of the game.
The Heat went up to +11, at the start of the last period, 90-79, but Houston makes a comeback, and takes the lead, 91-92.
Still, the guests ran out of fuel which allows the hosts to get this one in a thrilling ending. Eric Gordon has missed a game-winning three-pointer which might have eased the worries after Paul’s injury.
Harden was once again on fire with 35 points and 12 assists, shooting 15 of 18 from the free throw line. He hit 6 3’s. Eric Gordon added 20 points, and Clint Capela 14 rebounds along with 6 points. His performance was clearly struck with the absence of the Rockets’ starting point guard.
With the home team, Josh Richardson scored 20, Tyler Johnson 19, while Hassan Whiteside posted 17 rebounds.
Josh Richardson did it all for Miami as they snap the Rockets' 5-game win streak! 🔥
📊: 22 PTS | 7 AST | 6 REB#HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/rdT5JDbgmt
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 21, 2018
What was also a problem, is the fact that Houston’s bench contributed with only 20 points in this one and that nobody stepped up to replace the injured superstar.
Heat dominated in rebounding grabbing 61 boards, compared to 41 Rockets had. What was also noticeable was the awful field goal percentage of the Houston-based franchise, 29 of 82 which is only 35.4%.
Paul’s injury affected everyone on the court.
After the game, coach D’Antoni said that CP3 would probably be out for a significant amount of time
“It’ll be some time.” D’Antoni swiftly replied when asked about the injury.
Despite everyone’s thinking that James Harden’s presence on the floor is the only thing which is important for the Rockets, the statistics wouldn’t agree on that one. Without Paul in the lineup, his team is without a victory, losing all five contests.
Last year when he experienced the same injury during the Western Conference Finals against the Warriors, Rockets lost the final two matches and got eliminated despite leading 3-2.
Hard times are in front of Mike D’Antoni and his boys, as they will have to find a solution to replace one of the best point guards in the league.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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