Chris Paul kicked Steph Curry off court night before Game 6 showdown originally appeared on nbcsportsbayarea.com Programming note: Watch the pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30, streaming live on the MyTeams app. Chris Paul was fantastic in Game 6 of the Warriors-Rockets NBA playoff second-round series. The Rockets guard recorded 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting, with 11 rebounds and six assists. But it wasn't enough as Houston's season came to an end with a 118-113 loss. After the game, we learned an incredible story that certainly doesn't look good for CP3. Marcus Thompson of The Athletic has the details: On the eve of Friday's Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, (Steph) Curry wanted to get some shots up at the Toyota Center. The Warriors do-it-all manager Eric Housen booked the court, from 7 to 8 p.m., so Curry could work on his shot. Somehow, Rockets guard Chris Paul got wind. He decided to go to the Toyota Center to get shots up, nixing Curry's reservations. The Warriors' point guard offered to stick to half a court but Paul wasn't having it. Curry was kicked off the Toyota Center court. This is ... ... unbelievable. Does it get any pettier than this? And it's why Curry yelled "Kick me off the court again, boy!" as he celebrated the Game 6 victory with Draymond Green just outside the Warriors' locker room. Steph Curry will always be taken for granted and he will always be underrated https://t.co/AEQRsb60ti — Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 11, 2019 Paul is an incredible basketball player and one of the best point guards of all time. But it's hard to watch him play because of all of his antics and flopping. Really glad they didn't call a foul on Steph Curry for this Chris Paul flop, but Curry has to make this layup pic.twitter.com/RL9FT9VrQ2 — Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 11, 2019 This is how Chris Paul gets his points. He flops around when the Rockets are in the bonus. It's embarrassing pic.twitter.com/j8wEHufafB — Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 11, 2019 Hahaha. Chris Paul flops and then points at one of the refs who didn't call a foul pic.twitter.com/GkcyWv5TaN — Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 11, 2019 [RELATED: Klay, Lacob discuss special moment from late in Game 6 win] So on second thought, it's actually believable that Paul would have done something like kick Curry off the court the night before a game. Follow @DrewShiller on Twitter and Instagram<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>According to a report, Stephen Curry made practice reservations on the Houston Rockets court the night before Game 6, but Chris Paul got wind of it and prevented Curry from practicing. After Curry scored 33 points to help the Warriors eliminate the Rockets on Friday, several Warriors reportedly taunted Paul behind the scenes. The Warriors praised the Rockets for being a worthy challenger, but ESPN's Brian Windhorst said he believes there is "real animosity" between the Warriors and Paul. Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories. Stephen Curry scored 33 points in the second half of Game 6 on Friday to help the Golden State Warriors eliminate the Houston Rockets and advance to the Western Conference Finals. Curry's second-half explosion was remarkable considering he was scoreless in the first half, continuing what had been a nightmare series for him to that point. Read more: Steph Curry astounded the NBA world by scoring 33 points in 22 minutes to help the Warriors pull off a devastating, series-ending win over the Rockets According to The Athletic's Marcus Thompson, Curry's cold start in Game 6 may have been the result of some gamesmanship from Chris Paul, who altered Curry's schedule before the game. According to Thompson, Curry had reserved practice time on the Rockets court on Thursday night from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Paul reportedly got wind of it and went to the arena to deny Curry's practice time. From Thompson: "On the night before Friday's Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, after arriving from the Bay Area, Curry wanted to get some shots up at Toyota Center. The Warriors' do-it-all manager, Eric Housen, booked the court from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. so Curry could work on his shot. Somehow, Rockets guard Chris Paul got wind. He decided to go to Toyota Center to get shots up, nixing Curry's reservations. The Warriors' point guard offered to stick to half a court, but Paul wasn't having it. Curry was kicked off the Toyota Center court." According to Thompson, after the Warriors beat the Rockets, Curry yelled to Draymond Green, "Kick me off the court again, boy!" Green replied, "Kick him off! Kick him off!" Stephen Curry was kicked off the practice court by Chris Paul. Tim Warner/Getty Images Thompson's report coincides with what ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported on "SportsCenter" after Game 6. Windhorst said the Warriors locker room was rowdy after eliminating the Rockets, and the players were making fun of Paul. "As the players were going into the locker room, quite a few were bringing up Chris Paul's name, and it wasn't always in the greatest of light," Windhorst said. "I think there is a real animosity." Despite the reported trash talk behind the scenes, the Warriors were also effusive in their praise of the Rockets, perhaps the team that has challenged them the most in recent years. "That team was one of the best teams we played during this five-year run," head coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "They put so much pressure on you at both ends of the floor. It's a tremendous two-way basketball team ... I can't speak any more highly of Houston and their grit and their competitiveness and their talent." Though the Warriors playing short-handed, with Durant sidelined with a calf injury, the Rockets couldn't overcome the reigning champs. Giving Curry extra motivation might not have helped.<doc-sep>
Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets were a team built to beat the beasts of the NBA’s Western Conference, but they’ve fallen short of that goal now on consecutive seasons since Paul joined James Harden in Houston. It’s a tough pill to swallow for both Harden and Paul, who are seeing their window for a title slipping away while Golden State continues to dominate the NBA. And the loss in Game 6 was a particularly tough one given that Steph Curry struggled the entire first half and Kevin Durant’s minutes were taken up by a litany of bench players who kept pace with the Rockets and pulled away when Curry and Klay Thompson got hot in the fourth quarter. The rivalry between Golden State and Houston is lopsided in the postseason, but it is real. And the Warriors had an extra jolt of adrenaline in Game 6 because of an incident that happened before the game. Marcus Thompson II’s story for The Athletic leads with a firsthand account of Draymond Green and Steph Curry taunting Chris Paul after the Game 6 win that ended the series between the Rockets and Warriors. As the story explains, Curry was actually kicked off the court in Houston before Game 6 despite the Warriors reserving some time for him to shoot. On the night before Friday’s Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, after arriving from the Bay Area, Curry wanted to get some shots up at Toyota Center. The Warriors’ do-it-all manager, Eric Housen, booked the court from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. so Curry could work on his shot. Somehow, Rockets guard Chris Paul got wind. He decided to go to Toyota Center to get shots up, nixing Curry’s reservations. The Warriors’ point guard offered to stick to half a court, but Paul wasn’t having it. Curry was kicked off the Toyota Center court. Hence: “Kick me off the court again, boy!” And Green replied to Curry’s taunt by screaming, “Kick him off! Kick him off!” It’s a story that may show Paul as ultra-competitive, but the overall picture and the result of the game that follows certainly paints the Rockets veteran in a poor light. All’s fair in the NBA postseason, and any edge you can get over the opponent might make a difference. But it didn’t make one here, and when the game clock started the court the two teams played on was theirs for either team to dominate. It was Curry, eventually, who got the right to celebrate on it when the time came.