Despite being at a clear advantage with Kevin Durant out of the lineup for Golden State, the Houston Rockets were unable to knock off the defending champs in the second round of the playoffs. The two stars of the team, James Harden and Chris Paul were given a heavy dose of the blame for the loss and many felt they didn't do enough to give their team a spot in the Western Conference Finals. After the deciding Game 6, Harden and Paul got into a "verbal exchange" where they showcased their frustrations with each other, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources close to the team say the two got into it in the locker room before parting ways, as Paul went to the podium for the postgame press conference, while Harden ended up going elsewhere. This war of words ended up taking place away from the public which is why we aren't hearing about it until now.
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In Charania's report, he also speaks about how Paul was unhappy with Mike D'Antoni's offense and that it seemed to be stagnating throughout the year. D'Antoni is due for a contract extension so the coach will have to figure it out quickly if the Rockets want to make sure they don't have a repeat of this season, next year.
