Western Conference Finals 2018: Rockets vs. Warriors Game 7 thread

The Houston Rockets received some horrible news tonight when it was announced that Chris Paul would not be available for Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors. And though Houston’s chances haven’t been completely flushed down the toilet, it’s going to be tough sledding to take down the Warriors without CP3, even at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets are going to need James Harden to do his thing, and they’ll need contributions from pretty much everyone up and down the roster if they’re going to hang tough with the Dubs. Perhaps most importantly, they’ll need to play some lockdown defense. But even that gets exponentially harder with Paul, one of the league’s best defenders, not able to go.

I don’t want to write the Rockets’ obituary quite yet; this is sports, and stranger things have happened. But you can bet I’m brainstorming on some eulogy’s for our 2017-2018 season.

It would be a shame for such a phenomenal season to go down the tubes due to injury, but that’s the cards we’ve been dealt as Rockets fans.

Consequently, Golden State fans have had the opposite experience. Each and every one of their title runs has featured key injuries to their opposition — from Paul to Kyrie Irving to Kawhi Leonard — and it seems pretty unfair that a team that talented also catches all of the injury breaks (que some deluded Bay Area bandwagoners trying to tell us that Andre Iguodala is just as important as any of those three).

Anyway, I’ll be cheering and hoping for our boys in red tonight, as I’m sure you all will be as well. I’m just not expecting a win now that the Dubs have taken back the momentum and that the injury gods have spoken.

Let’s go, Rockets. My heart will be pulling for the impossible, even if my brain is telling me I’m crazy.