Former NBA player Gerald Green believes the Rockets would have beaten the Warriors juggernaut in the 2018 WCF hadn’t Chris Paul got injured.
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The Houston Rockets were the no.1 seed in the NBA during the 2017-18 season. It was veteran guard Chris Paul’s first season with James Harden and co. Considering their ball-dominant nature, many had doubts about them co-existing. However, the superstar backcourt created franchise history.
The 2017-18 Rockets became the first roster in franchise history to record 60+ wins. The same season would see Harden win the league MVP. Since the 2015 playoffs, the Warriors stood like a roadblock in the Rockets ticket to the NBA Finals, eliminating them each time they faced.
However, the Rockets did come close once, but fate had other plans. The 2018 western conference finals saw the Rockets face the Warriors. However, this time the Houston team looked in complete control, one win away from making the NBA Finals since 1995.
Unfortunately, CP3 getting injured in Game Five would spoil the party for the Rockets. According to former Rockets player Gerald Green, the Rockets were winning a ring hadn’t Paul been injured.
James Harden and Chris Paul would have had a championship on their respective resumes hadn’t the latter injured himself in 2018.
The Rockets were coming off an extremely successful season and had the arsenal to beat the super-team Warriors. The Houston team led the Warriors 3-2 in the WCF and were on their way to creating history when Paul injured his hamstring in Game Five.
However, the Rockets would win the game, giving them a 3-2 lead. Sadly, Paul wouldn’t return to the series, making it a mammoth task for Harden to carry the team against the likes of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Former Rockets player Gerald Green believed they would have won the championship hadn’t CP3 injured himself, as Green was confident of defeating LeBron James’ Cavaliers pretty easily.
“If Chris Paul doesn’t get hurt, we win a ring,” Green said. “Easy, we would’ve beat them. We were the better team. We was ready for them. We would’ve beat Cleveland pretty easy. We were special.”
The fact that the Rockets had home court in Game Seven gave them a big boost. Recently, Draymond Green stated that the Warriors were the only team that could defeat the Rockets during the former’s dynasty years.
