Former Houston Rocket Makes Claim on 2018 Playoff Team

Eric Gordon still feels the 2018 Rockets should have won a championship.

Feb 1, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon (10) walks off the court after the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Any Houstonian will tell you what former Houston Rocket Eric Gordon said about the 2018 playoff team. The Rockets, who were coming off of a 65-17 regular season, the most wins in a season in franchise history, entered the Western Conference Finals against the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. In a grueling seven-game series, Houston fell short, and the Warriors went back-to-back.

Gordon, a key contributor to the core of that year's playoff team, recently went on the Club 520 Podcast, hosted by former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague, to talk about that era of Rockets basketball. In the podcast, he made a claim that many basketball fans outside of Houston could get behind.

"I truly believe that if CP didn't get injured we would have won that year, I really do," he said.

Gordon is of course referring to Chris Paul, James Harden's running mate that season, who got hurt in Game 5 of that series. The Rockets went up 3-2, but would lose the next two without Paul. The future Hall-of-Famer averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.8 steals throughout the series.

After Paul got hurt, the Rockets would drop Game 6 in Golden State, 115-86. In Game 7, played in Houston, the Rockets lost 101-92 while missing 27-straight three-pointers, putting themselves on the wrong of NBA history.

Gordon started in place of Paul, but if the Rockets had their second star, the outcome of the game probably would have been different. Gordon wasn't as much of a facilitator or defender as Paul was. He was more of a catch-and-shoot option, strictly out there to knock down shots when given the ball. It carved out an impressive career, but it wasn't enough to beat Golden State's superteam. The 2018 Rockets will go down as one of the biggest "what ifs" in NBA history.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Rockets on SI Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.