Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni noted he intends to start shooting guard Eric Gordon in place of the injured point guard Chris Paul for Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News.

The long-tenured coach also expressed doubt of Paul coming back from a hamstring injury in short enough time to make a potential Game 7 between the two teams.

“Obviously is not something that we wanted, I hate it for him above all,” said D'Antoni on Paul's injury. “He's practically won us the last two games, but it's a great opportunity for other guys and we have plenty to choose from and we'll be ready.”

Hamstring injuries are generally tough to get over and take time to recover from, something that could prove tough with such a quick turnaround. Including today, Paul would have less than four days to recover from an injury that left him limping, unable to make his way back on defense after a missed jump shot in the last minute of regulation.

Paul's absence will bring a massive void to the Rockets' offense, considering that he's carried the tempo and offensive punch while his backcourt mate James Harden has struggled to hit shots throughout the series after a Game 1 explosion that saw him put up 41 points in a loss.

Gordon hasn't been relatively effective in this series, but he made his contributions felt on Game 5, making some clutch shots down the stretch, including a game-sealing 3-pointer that proved too tough to recover from. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year finished with 24 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor, 3-of-10 from deep, and 9-of-10 from the foul line, drawing two 3-point fouls early in the game.