Carmelo Anthony has had his fair share of hate across the NBA. But there was a time when the 10x All-Star’s dislike was off the roof, and he was not the only one feeling this way. This transpired when Kevin Durant changed his allegiance to the Golden State, which made the Warriors even more unstoppable. Melo recalled the true feelings from the 2018 WCF and his support for Chris Paul.

CP3’s inclusion alongside James Harden made the Rockets a must-see team. They even beat the Warriors in their season-opening game and won the regular season series 2-1. Even in the conference finals, the Rockets took a 3–2 lead, and Anthony revealed why everyone was rooting for Paul against the Warriors. “It’s rare that your ops, right, watch you and root for you,” Melo said on his podcast. “In CP’s case, when he was in Houston, all the guys he played against, all the guys he battled against, were rooting for CP to win a championship.

They were tired of trying to figure out how to beat Steph, and nobody figured it out. They wanted the game to shift in a new direction. That direction of the Warriors was f-cking the game up. It was great for them, but they f-cked everybody else up. There are only six or seven organizations that have that history of the league where everybody is going against you. Lakers, Bulls, Warriors, Boston, Miami, and Detroit.”

The Houston Rockets entered the playoffs with their best regular–season record in franchise history. They also finished with the best record in the NBA during the 17-18 season. A team of gritty defenders willing to do the dirty work to halt Golden State’s offensive machine surrounded James Harden and Chris Paul. They used a switch-heavy defensive scheme to put a chokehold on the Warriors’ offense. Kevin Durant‘s isolation plays, plus the quick movement of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, made it difficult for the entire league.

Chris Paul’s hamstring injury in Game 5 came as a blessing for the Golden State. Without their floor general, the Rockets looked out of sorts in Games 6 and 7. The Rockets made just seven of 44 attempts from beyond the arc, as their modern offense with their three-point philosophy came to a screeching halt. The result was that the Warriors won the Conference Finals and would go on to beat the Cavaliers 4-0 for their second straight championship.

What made the Rockets a threat to the Warriors?

Even Kevin Durant admitted last year that the Rockets game was more difficult than the NBA Finals against the Cavaliers. “That expanded our team, made us better. And then once we got to the Finals, we were able to sweep the Cavs. But I think that Houston series really was the Finals for us,” he asserted. This was on the back of James Harden’s long-awaited MVP season.

He averaged a then-career-high 30.4 points and 8.8 assists, while shooting 44.9% from the field, 36.7% from behind the arc. Chris Paul had nagging injuries, which made his availability limited to just 58 games. For the team to succeed, the other players in the team stepped up. Eric Gordon averaged 18 points for the season, Trevor Ariza had consistent 11 points per game, and P.J. Tucker was efficient in his 37.1% 3PT. This made Houston possess the league’s top offense and the sixth-best defense.

Without Chris Paul, the Rockets lost to the Warriors in Game 7 by just 9 points. Their efficient shooting from beyond the arc horribly failed. It was their greatest strength, but crumbled under pressure as they missed an NBA-record 27 consecutive shots from deep.