Chris Paul battled a knee injury through much of the preseason and even sat out the closing moments of the Rockets' opening night victory over the Warriors on Tuesday. Houston has said the injury is nothing too serious, but the team is choosing to be careful with how it approaches Paul.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Paul will be listed as day to day and could be out for as long as a month due to his knee injury. The Rockets are going to take it slowly, because it's still the beginning of the season and they don't want to rush him back with goals of playing in June.
There are fears that Chris Paul's knee problem could sideline him for a month in Houston, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 20, 2017
The Rockets are officially listing Paul as day-to-day after ruling him out of Saturday's home opener against Dallas, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 20, 2017
The Rockets have made it clear that they plan to be cautious with Chris Paul given the lofty goals they have in mind for a long playoff run
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 20, 2017
It's not exactly great for the Rockets to have their starting point guard potentially missing a month of game time, but they've also shown in the past they can win without him. They managed to defeat Golden State in the closing moments without Paul and the core of last season's team is still here. The Rockets can survive without Paul for a month.
It will be interesting to see how the Rockets adjust once Paul does return. He's already new to the team, but now he'll have to insert himself into a system midway through the season. Even the best teams need time to adjust and Houston will be no different.
