Rest in Peace to the 2017-18 Houston Rockets

You know, for a second, I really thought the Houston Rockets were gonna do it.

I legitimately thought that they were going to knock off the reigning champs and punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. Everything was going so great for the Rockets, until late in the fourth quarter of last night’s game:

Chris Paul suffers an injury late in game 5 pic.twitter.com/VLGm7MXklq

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 25, 2018

Rockets star Chris Paul will miss Game 6 of West Finals with a hamstring strain.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 25, 2018

I have bashed Chris Paul on here quite often, but it’s hard to discredit what he’s done this post-season. He’s the sole reason the Rockets are one game away from a trip to the NBA Finals. He’s really picked up the slack from James Harden, who has done next to nothing this series. Without CP3 in the lineup in Game 6 and potentially Game 7, Houston stands no chance against Golden State. It’s sad to see it end like this. I’d say they might be able to do it if Harden steps up, but he hasn’t shown me any signs of his ability to do that at all this post-season. MVP my ass.

It’s really hard for me to see Houston go into Oracle and steal Game 6 without CP3. And even though he could come back for Game 7, there’s no shot he’d be at 100% by then. It just wouldn’t be enough time for him to rest. So yes, Houston is officially done. Golden State is probably going to win the Finals in back-to-back seasons. God dammit. Somebody please just make this nightmare end already.

-Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)