Up 3-2 in their Western Conference Finals matchup against the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets are just one win away from the Finals.

Saturday’s Game 6 showdown will undoubtedly feature a lot of drama and physicality. With their backs against the wall, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and company will have a raucous home crowd cheering them on.

James Harden and Chris Paul have led Houston to their current position. Harden’s averaging 27.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the series, while Paul has put up 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, Paul aggravated a previous hamstring injury in the final minute of Thursday’s Game 5 win. He immediately left the game and remained on the sidelines while his teammates closed it out. It put a damper on his 20-point, 7-assist, 6-rebound performance.

After the game, the camera crews showed him walking gingerly back to the locker room. On Friday, the team confirmed what everyone presumed would happen: Paul will miss Game 6.

Obviously, his loss is a massive blow to Houston’s chances to come away with a victory on the road. But, according to ESPN, he will travel with his teammates to support them from the bench.

"It's obviously not something we wanted," coach Mike D'Antoni said before Friday's practice, per ESPN. "I hate it for him above all. He's practically won us the past two games. But it's a great opportunity for other guys, and we have plenty to choose from. We'll be ready.”

Next man up

Harden views it as an opportunity for someone else to step up.

"Obviously Chris has been playing extremely well. Hopefully [he will have] a speedy recovery, which I know will happen. There's an opportunity, like all year long, for guys to step up and take advantage of an unbelievable opportunity,” he said.

One of those guys will be Eric Gordon. A prolific scorer at times, Gordon will be inserted into the starting lineup for Game 6. He averaged 21.5 points and 3.4 assists when in the starting five during the regular season.

"We're extremely confident, as usual, from top to bottom," Harden said. "This is nothing new to us. Whether it's myself or Chris or anybody else that has sat out a few games or whatnot, guys have stepped in and contributed very well.”

The major question mark

What’s most interesting is that D’Antoni has elected to play only seven players in each of the last two games. Therefore, it remains to be seen if he elects to play only six guys in an extremely-tight rotation on Saturday or if he decides to give reserves like Luc Mbah a Moute, Ryan Anderson or Joe Johnson some minutes.

Regardless, if the Rockets lose Game 6 and head back to Houston for Game 7, they’ll need their superstar point guard back on the floor.

It will be fascinating to see if Harden and his teammates can play through the adversity of losing Paul and steal Game 6 in Oakland.