Houston Rockets 122-121 Golden State Warriors: 5 talking points

#3 Mixed night for Chris Paul

Chris Paul #3

A lot was made of whether Chris Paul would fit with Houston's up-tempo offense and it was a mixed bag. Paul prefers to run the half-court offense and his tendencies showed up at times in the game. The rest of the Rockets wanted to up the pace for much of the game but Paul wanted it to slow down at times. That said, he still racked up 11 assists and surprisingly 8 rebounds. He did have an off shooting night though, scoring only 4 points on 2-9 shooting, but that shouldn't be a problem long term.

What could be a problem is the fact that he cannot contribute enough off the ball. Paul isn't exactly a spot up shooter and with Harden holding the ball for much of the game, he can often be isolated from the offense. Paul is at his best when he's holding the ball and getting others involved and that should be the way to go for Houston in the future. Harden, is much more suited to playing off the ball than he is, and if Houston wants to maximise Paul's impact then that's what they should do.