Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from Game 4 against the Warriors

Chris Paul needs to be a scorer for the Rockets to win

Chris Paul has not played very well in the Western Conference Finals. Before Tuesday’s game, Paul was averaging just 17.3 points on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Paul has blown a number of easy layups and he has lacked the explosion to drive by Golden State’s defenders.

The Warriors defenders deserve some credit, but Paul finally admitted that he isn’t 100 percent healthy. Chris Paul said that his foot is better but not completely healed after receiving treatment between Game 3 and Game 4, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

“It’s about as good as it’s going to be right now. But for us, it’s not about that. It’s about going out there and getting stops and making big plays when we needed to.”

Before Game 4, Golden State was outscoring Houston by 30.4 points per 100 possessions while Harden sat. With Paul playing so poorly, the Rockets just couldn’t hang with the Warriors without Harden on the floor.

Luckily, CP3 bounced back with a huge 27-point performance in Game 4. Paul scored 14 points in the second quarter and 8 points in the fourth quarter. Unsurprisingly, Houston out scored Golden State by a total of 29 points between those two quarters. Chris Paul is a pass first type of point guard, but he needs to have a scoring mentality in this series.

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