Chris Paul reveals the NBA best team he’s ever played on in his 18-season career and the answer might surprise you.
It was the 2017-18 Houston Rockets, which included James Harden, Clint Capela and P.J. Tucker in the line-up.
That team won 65 games and only lost 17 during the regular season. It was the most regular season wins in Rockets history, besting the previous 1993-94 Rockets record (58-24).
The talented group weren’t able to reach the NBA Finals but that didn’t matter, according to Paul.
“To be real honest with you, that first year in Houston might have been top two, top three or the best team I ever played on,” Paul said on The Hoop Collective podcast. “Seriously, we were so connected defensively, offensively. … Those years I was in Houston, we played the entire season to get ready for one team – for Golden State.
“We played the entire season, our defensive game plan, our offensive game plan, every single game was to get ready for Golden State ’cause there’s a certain way you had to play in order to beat those teams.”
The Rockets almost reached their goal but ended up losing to the Warriors in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
A game that Paul wasn’t able to play in due to hamstring injury.
It was a wild game and many NBA fans remember it well because Houston missed 27 straight three’s and Golden State came back from a 15-point deficit.
The very next season, Paul’s Rockets team were bounced by the Warriors again but this time only in the second round of the postseason.
The team wasn’t the same during that 2018-19 season, as Trevor Ariza became a free agent and went to Sacramento, Paul says.
“Honestly, why I believe our team was so different that second year — we didn’t bring back Trevor Ariza,” Paul continued. “… I mean that wholeheartedly.”
Ariza went on to win an NBA championship with the Lakers in 2009, something Paul is yet to achieve.
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