The Houston Rockets are one win away from the NBA Finals after outlasting the Warriors 98-94 in a completely wild Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday. Houston now leads the series 3-2 heading to Oakland for Game 6 on Saturday.
There is so much to say about this game, and this series, so let's get to it. Here are five things to know from Game 5:
- Will injury put red-hot Chris Paul on ice?
First things first: If you were one of the trumpeters of the "Chris Paul is not a big-time winner" narrative, which is perhaps the laziest, weakest take in NBA history, just show yourself out. This guy, man. After a brilliant Game 4, Paul was again the best player on the floor for crucial stretches in Game 5, even if his stat line doesn't jump off the page -- 20 points on 6-of-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists. In a game that was won on pure guts, Paul was just the soul of this Rockets team when James Harden couldn't find even a spec of his heart or game, which we'll get to in a second.
When Paul was traded to Houston, a league exec told me -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- that it was going to be a great marriage because Paul would bring things to Houston that it was missing, and Houston's style and supporting cast would provide Paul with some things he was missing. How that has turned out to be true. Here you have a team that all but outlaws mid-range shots and one of the best mid-range players in history meeting in the middle, and the result is a team that can now get buckets different ways than on paper.
So many times in this series, Paul has sustained a run, or held one off, or just calmed the flow of the game with a patented pull-up in the lane or from 16 feet, the exact shots Houston supposedly despises. Give the Rockets credit for bending this principle, because it's saving them in this series as they struggle from three.
On the flip side, Paul has adapted to Houston's game in all the right ways, too, taking almost two more 3-pointers per game this year than he did last year, and over 100 more of the pull-up variety. The four threes he dropped in Game 5 were seemingly worth four they were so huge, including this answered prayer that led to his mocking