Chris Paul’s tenure with the Houston Rockets
After several more years on the Clippers, including a tumultuous end involving backstage drama and heartbreaking defeats that prevented his team from capturing the coveted Larry ‘O Brien chalice, CP3’s tenure came to an end when he was traded to the Houston Rockets.
In the heart of the Lone Star State, he would find himself paired with James Harden, who since leaving Oklahoma City had blossomed into one of the league’s most prolific scorers. Initially, this pairing made sense. As the floor general for the Rockets, Paul would be able to take primary ball-handler duties off the shoulders of Harden.
While “The Beard” was no slouch when it came to running an offense, Paul was a maestro with the basketball. All Harden would have to do was be in the right place at the right time. He wouldn’t need to constantly dazzle opposing players to create shots. He had Chris Paul to do that. All he had to do was get buckets, and for a player like James Harden, getting buckets was as easy as breathing.
Like on his previous two teams, initially, everything seemed promising for Chris Paul. In his first season with Houston, the team would begin the year with a win over the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. While Paul would not contribute much in the way of points, the Rockets would nonetheless take the win. It was later revealed that Paul had a knee injury that would keep him out for the next 14 games.
An ill omen, but oddly enough, an injury at the beginning of the season is not as terrible as one later on or in the playoffs. He would return soon enough and slot back in seamlessly as the Rockets tore their way through the league. Not only did they have the best-ranked offense in the league, but they were also among the top 10 best defensive teams. It felt like they had all the tools to win the title. And with James Harden later being named the league MVP, many felt that Houston would hoist the title when all was said and done.
In the first round of that year’s playoffs, the top-seeded Rockets would handily dispatch the Timberwolves in five games. They would then follow that up with another five-game defeat of the Utah Jazz. But to be frank, that was expected. The Rockets were a different caliber of team than the Timberwolves and Jazz. To lose would have been a monumental upset. Nevertheless, the Rockets would earn a place in the Western Conference Finals, the first of Chris Paul’s career.
With just four games between him and the Finals, the Rockets would find the defending champions standing in their way once again. The clash of these two teams was akin to a pair of titans doing battle in the Colosseum, the main difference being that they would battle in two arenas.
The first four games were a see-saw affair, with one team winning only to be immediately defeated in the next meeting. As far as matchups went, this was arguably the most even one of the entire playoffs that year. Two teams led by stellar backcourts and plenty of depth led to show-stopping games night in and night out. Game five however would see the Rockets take a 3-2 series lead over the Warriors.
For a moment, it looked like Paul and the Rockets would prevail. But in a cruel twist of fate, Paul would go down with a hamstring injury towards the end of the game. Unable to do anything but watch from the bench, the Warriors would make mince meat out of the Rockets in the Oracle Arena, tying the series as they would head back to Houston for one last series-deciding slugfest.
The beginning of game 7 would see Houston jump out to a 15-point lead, immediately establishing dominance. This lead would shrink slightly to 11 by halftime, yet Houston would maintain a lead in the race to the final buzzer. Even without Chris Paul, it seemed that the Rockets would be able to hold on.
But then something changed. In the second half, the hunters would become the hunted and vice-versa as Golden State would make a massive comeback, snatching the lead from the Rockets. The NBA world didn’t know it at the time, but the moment the Warriors would take the lead late in the third quarter, the series was over.
From that moment on, the Rockets would never again take the lead. In desperation, the Rockets would attempt to shoot themselves back into the game. Like the Warriors they were a team that lived and died by the three-pointer. It was the sword that had brought them this far. And as anyone who has studied boxing will tell you, in moments of desperation a fighter defaults to ‘old reliable’ to save themselves.
And Houston would do the same, shooting three after three. Even as miss after miss piled up, Houston would continue to fire. Ironically, this was what doomed them more than anything, as they would miss 27 straight three-pointers and end the game in defeat having only made 1 of 30 three-pointers.
I can only imagine how Chris Paul felt, to watch his team’s championship aspirations go up in smoke. To have come so close, only for the clock to strike midnight once again. To dream so big, yet wake up before it could be realized.