Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul says he’s moved closer to the city in an effort to get more comfortable with his surroundings. Paul is in his second year with the Rockets and says overall, the team is in a better place than it was last season due to familiarity.
Chris Paul says he moved closer to the city to get more comfortable, and the team is more comfortable having a year under their belt. Says he learned that pump-fake side step three from Trevor Ariza, and worked on it with Carmelo Anthony. pic.twitter.com/R0fGBLdd3M
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) October 3, 2018
In his first season with the Rockets, Paul averaged 18.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game. The nine-time All-Star shot 46.0 percent from the field, 38.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 91.9 percent from the free-throw line. Houston clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a regular-season record of 65-17.
For the first time in his career, Paul got past the second-round of the playoffs. The Rockets faced off against the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. Unfortunately for Paul, his string of bad luck came back to bite him. The future Hall of Famer suffered a hamstring injury in Game 5 and missed Games 6 and 7. Houston lost to the Warriors in Game 7 at home, leaving a bad taste in the mouth of Paul, who was so close to reaching his first ever NBA Finals.
It was still a solid first year for Paul in Houston, though. The 33-year-old meshed with James Harden better than most expected and the duo is eager to get the season started and make another run. Harden won the 2018 MVP award and cited Paul’s addition to the team as one of the main reasons he had such a stellar campaign.
Paul and Harden will now be tasked to help Carmelo Anthony find his niche with the team. The veteran scorer signed a one-year deal with the Rockets after spending last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony averaged a career-low 16.2 points per game and shot only 40.4 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range with the Thunder.
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