Houston Rockets: Chris Paul approaching return very soon

Help is on the way soon for the Houston Rockets. After missing their star point guard for the last month, he is close to returning early next week!

The Houston Rockets have been staying afloat in the Western Conference since losing Chris Paul to injury. James Harden has been doing some serious heavy-lifting that has seen him rise in the MVP race up to the top and put up some insane numbers along the way.

The Beard can only do so much, though. The Rockets are 6-5 in the month of January after also losing Clint Capela to injury. The non-healthy Houston squad is dropping games they should win, even with the heroics of the Beard, who is averaging 45.3 points a night for the month.

Getting CP3 back will be huge for the team moving forward as they look to push through to the top of the conference. His play on both ends of the court will be very nice, as will his ability to knock down wide-open 3s. That’s exactly what Harden needs right now, someone who will make it tough on defenses to double or triple team him.

Kelly Iko of the Athletic reported his soon return tonight:

Source: All signs pointing to Chris Paul (left hamstring) making his return Sunday vs. Orlando, or Tuesday vs. New Orleans.

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) January 24, 2019

How it helps

Like I eluded to earlier, this will cause many fewer double and triple teams on James Harden, thankfully. The Beard has been passing to wide open shooters who cannot create their own shot and have been missing quite a bit.

Now, there’s an established playmaker in Chris Paul on the other end of the passes and he will be ready to knock down a shot or set up a teammate as well. This really will help the team, especially in fourth quarter situations down the stretch of the season.

It would be nice for him to return tomorrow against the Raptors, but we’ll take him as soon as we can. Let’s see what he can do the rest of the season, hopefully, he’ll stay healthy.