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The Houston Rockets have never been beaten so much as when they escaped from their home turf in the 118-113 defeat of the De Durant Warriors, DeMarcus Cousins, less than Kevin Durant.
A team specifically designed to defeat one of the most unstoppable dynasties in the league has again failed even more inexplicably disastrously than the 27 missed points of last year. This game was supposed to be a gimme.
It is too early to say that the Houston title window is fully closed, but it will take all to defeat the dark legacy that the James Harden Rockets have created for themselves in the playoffs. So far, they have never had enough.
Friday night, Durant missing the best playoff player, Durant, who was sitting with a calf strain, AND the cousins of the center of the stars, the grounds were leveled to allow the Rockets to redeem themselves and at the very least to push for a match. 7. They failed spectacularly, even with Steph Curry losing the surface of the earth for 50% of the game.
Curry did not score points throughout the first half, but the score remained tied at 57. A strangely bizarre night saw the Rockets not exploit all the gifts offered to their advantage. James Harden and Chris Paul finished with respectively 35 and 27 points on a good shot, P.J. Tucker scored 15 points on eight shots, and all the other rockets fell flat when Curry regained his superhuman abilities. He finished the match with 33 points, all of which came in the last 24 minutes of hoops.
Curry and Klay Thompson had three unbalanced three-point shots in the last three minutes, which sounded poetic about how the series of these teams will be remembered. Heck, even Andre Iguodala shot FIVE three-point shots for the first time in six years. In any case, the Rockets three-cell D and D staff of sophisticated, carefully selected, laboratory-organized analyzers do not seem to be able to beat Golden State in the playoffs. If Friday night you had seen a lot of it, it was because you did it. Curry and Klay's daggers put the nail in the Rockets coffin for the fourth time in five years.
The Rockets have no excuse to support this time. Last year, Chris Paul was injured during the team's exit but this season was the safest way of retaliation of the team. And it's a hard pill to swallow.
This defeat in series gives the impression that the Rockets are preparing to face an existential crisis. Are Harden and Paul perfect complements? Is this team built as well as it could be? Was the extension of Clint Capela the right solution? Will the suffering across the background of Chris Paul's seismic contract come without a ring?
The window in Houston has not been closed yet, but it is quickly disappearing. Harden, Paul, Tucker, Eric Gordon and Capela will all be back next year. But with Paul and Tucker at age 34, it will be hard to keep everyone healthy in the field.
In truth, the Rockets' biggest win could come with the decision of Kevin Durant's independent agency in July. We do not know if the Old Warriors could have resisted a series of seven games only. But even so, the league has caught up. Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks, Joel Embiid's Sixers and Kawhi Leonard's Raptors are also needed.
Summer is going to be long in Houston. And all they have to think about is an embarrassing defeat for the Warriors. Again.
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