CP3 missed 20 games in '16-'17 at age 31 CP3 missed 24 games in '17-'18 at age 32 CP3 has already missed 20 games in '18-'19 at age 33 Given the above, I'll make the outlandish statement that this has been the reality of Chris Paul for awhile now...and we shouldn't expect the trend to reverse itself after multiple hamstring injuries, chronic knee issues, and the advancement of age. Father time is undefeated versus athletes. The Rockets will have to balance how to manage only 50-60 games or regular season production from CP3, still make a decent playoff seeding, manage the fatigue of Harden and other players picking up the slack while CP3 is out, and still manage to peak at playoff time without an injury to either CP3 or an overworked player like Harden, Tucker, etc...with the oldest and shortest team in the NBA. This will NOT be easy...and will require a lot of good fortune.
Shouldn't be too surprised. He will never be back at 100%. Morey knew what the risk was. We'll just have to eat this one for now. If we make the playoffs there's no telling how his body will perform.
Mike: (Assuming Chris is good to go?) Yes. (How much of a scare was it when he came up with whatever level of sore back he had?) Nah, nothing. Just tweaked it a little bit. (Product of missing 17 games over 5 weeks & come back & there might be soreness here and there?) Yeah, maybe a product of bad bed too. (Should he do something about it?) Maybe so. (Decision on whether he'll play both ends of back-to-back?) Uhhh I don't think it's definitely 100% but probably won't play (tomorrow).