NBA notebook: Rockets won't have Paul in Game 6

[May 26, 2018]  The Houston Rockets announced Friday that point guard Chris Paul will miss Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday with a strained right hamstring.

Paul is scheduled to be re-evaluated when the team returns to Houston. The only question now is if the Rockets will return home as Western Conference champs or with a Game 7 against Golden State on deck.

On Friday, James Harden said he and Paul stayed together and were "just talking and chopping it up, laughing and talking about life. We're not here to be down and moping around and sad. We'll be good."

Head coach Mike D'Antoni said Eric Gordon would be called upon to fill more of a playmaking role with Paul out.

--Warriors head coach Steve Kerr claims he likes where the team is entering Game 6 with a 3-2 deficit in the Western Conference finals series with the Rockets. He might really like where his team stands if Andre Iguodala returns from a two-game absence to play Saturday.

The club termed Iguodala as questionable for Game 6 after it lost for the second consecutive game Thursday with Iguodala sidelined due to a leg contusion.

Kerr said Iguodala keeps improving incrementally. Now he and the Warriors are just waiting on head performance therapist Chelsea Lane to clear Iguodala.

--If Kawhi Leonard had his choice, he would remain with the San Antonio Spurs -- at least according to teammate Danny Green. Leonard played in only nine games last season due to a nagging quad injury as rumors surfaced of a growing rift between the two-time All-Star and the championship organization coached by Gregg Popovich.

Green told ESPN's "Get Up" morning show that he's been in communication with Leonard and that the former NBA Finals MVP wants to be a Spur despite the season-long drama surrounding him.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) defends Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul (3) during the fourth quarter in game five of the Western conference finals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

"I think he wants to be in San Antonio. He's let me know that. He's let me know verbally he wanted to be there," Green told ESPN. "So, we'll see what happens."

--Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown says he felt "pretty much defenseless" during a controversial arrest over a parking infraction in January.

Speaking to "Good Morning America," Brown said he gets angry every time he watches body-cam video of the arrest, which the police released to the public on Wednesday.

In the video, Brown is seen surrounded by several officers outside his car. He is told by an officer to take his hands out of his pockets, and when he doesn't immediately, the officers wrestle him to the ground and tase him. A handful of squad cars were at the scene by the end of the situation, which began with Brown calmly cooperating with the first officer to approach him.

--Field Level Media

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