The Houston Rockets have a great opportunity to steal the Western Conference semi-finals from the Golden State Warriors, who will be without Kevin Durant for the remainder of the series.
Durant suffered a strained left calf in the third quarter of Game 5 and he is expected to miss 1-2 weeks, meaning that if the Rockets force a Game 7, he won't be playing as well.
A lot of people believe that the Rockets should take advantage of the Warriors' situation, and for NBA analyst and former player Paul Pierce, this is a make or break scenario for James Harden's career.
"This game is the biggest game in Harden's career. … This is the window."
—@paulpierce34 pic.twitter.com/aBd55Cjkt7— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 11, 2019
Harden and the Rockets lost to the Warriors in the conference finals last year, and if Durant didn't get hurt, there's a big chance they'd lose this series as well. KD's injury is a blessing in disguise for Houston, and if they fail to capitalize, they might no longer get another opportunity as huge as this one.
However, the Warriors won't be necessarily weaker without Durant as they still have sharpshooters Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, as well as do-everything guys Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. Golden State is expected to move the ball better now that Durant is out, which means they will be able to play the type of basketball that helped them win a title back in 2015.
For now, the Rockets will need to do everything they can to force a Game 7 on Sunday, or else their season ends tonight.
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