HOUSTON — The paradoxical state of the Warriors, after Thursday’s theoretically crushing 98-94 Game 5 loss to the Rockets: Their strategy finally paid off, just not in a way they ever would take credit for, and not in a way that resulted in victory. They wanted to squeeze Chris Paul until he snapped, metaphorically, of course. But such squeezing was followed by a late-game hamstring injury, a fate the Warriors hopefully wouldn’t wish on an opponent or revel in. And yet, such an injury could easily have something to do with the pressure applied.



It’s an uncanny valley in sports: You seek to physically destroy your opponent, but never injure him. You want to undermine a body in motion, but claim no responsibility for its ruination. In a way, Paul’s injury could be everybody and nobody’s fault. With James Harden scuffling, the Rockets needed Paul to do everything and the Warriors needed to punish him for trying.



Cumulative pressure is...