NBA Finals 2018: Known Dates, Format for Championship Schedule
The Houston Rockets held on for the 98-94 win on Thursday night to take a 3-2 series lead over the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
The Eastern Conference finals also sit at 3-2, with the Boston Celtics needing one more win to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers and advance to the NBA Finals.
The Cavs will host the C's in Game 6 on Friday night, but the primary postseason story is the health of Rockets point guard Chris Paul, who suffered a hamstring injury at the end of Game 5 and will miss Game 6, per Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
More analysis on that can be found below, in addition to a look ahead at the NBA Finals schedule.
NBA Finals Schedule
The winner of the Western Conference Finals will have home-court advantage in the NBA Finals, as the Rockets and Warriors have the best two regular-season records of the teams remaining. The championship round is a best-of-seven series.
East winner at West winner (Game 1): Thursday, May 31 at 9 p.m. on ABC
East winner at West winner (Game 2): Sunday, June 3 at 8 p.m. on ABC
West winner at East winner (Game 3): Wednesday, June 6 at 9 p.m. on ABC
West winner at East winner (Game 4): Friday, June 8 at 9 p.m. on ABC
East winner at West winner (Game 5, if necessary): Monday, June 11 at 9 p.m. on ABC
West winner at East winner (Game 6, if necessary): Thursday, June 14 at 9 p.m. on ABC
East winner at West winner (Game 7, if necessary): Sunday, June 17 at 8 p.m. on ABC
All Times ET.
Chris Paul Injury and Its Potential Impact
The obvious key to the rest of the Golden State vs. Houston series is Paul's health.
The 13-year veteran has played a big part in his team's wins in Games 4 and 5. In Game 4, Paul posted 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting. His field-goal percentage took a dip in Game 5 (6-of-19), but he filled up the stat sheet with 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. He also made a few circus shots to help the Rockets to victory.
Simply put, Paul sitting Game 6 is a huge blow to the team. Aside from the Rockets losing Paul's defense and playmaking abilities, the bench receives a massive depth blow. Sixth man Eric Gordon can jump into the starting lineup and fill the scoring void, but then the Rockets need to find more offensive help from the second unit.
At this point, Houston has trimmed its rotation to just seven men, so the Rockets may have to (a) give more minutes to Gerald Green and (b) find another player to provide court time.
Green can get hot from the field at any time, so those added minutes could work out, but the rest of the Rockets reserves have not fared well in the postseason. Luc Mbah a Moute and Ryan Anderson have struggled from the field in limited action, and center Nene Hilario hasn't been a factor in this series with the Warriors employing a small-ball lineup.
All told, this could mean more playing time for Rockets guard/forward Joe Johnson, who has plenty of postseason experience. Although Johnson is on the back end of his career, it was just last year that the former Arkansas star averaged 15.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs as a member of the Utah Jazz. He notably hit a game-winning floater in Game 1 as well, which helped the Jazz win the series in seven games.
Johnson has only played 41 total minutes in this year's playoffs, but he could certainly pull off some pinch-hit duty and provide 15-20 minutes if his team needs him. He averaged 22.0 minutes per game during the regular season for the Rockets.
That being said, the Rockets will still be at a significant disadvantage without Paul on the floor. There are a few silver linings, though: The Rockets aren't facing elimination in Game 6, and Paul has four days to rest his hamstring for a potential Game 7.
Game 6 will take place Saturday at 9 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. TNT will televise the game.
