3. Shots fail to fall late from downtown
While many analysts and experts might seek to blame the officials for missing calls over the last two games of the series, the Rockets will now have all summer long to think over their second half meltdown against Golden State, as the team that set the record for attempting the most 3-pointers in NBA history for the second consecutive season went cold at the worst time of the year.
Houston, which hit six out of its first 14 triples to start the contest, missed a playoff-record 27 consecutive 3-pointers during the second half of Game 7. The Rockets finished the night shooting a putrid 7-for-44 (15.7 percent) from downtown.
GSW / HOU shot charts after 3. Rox 0-14 from 3 in the 3rd #TwitterNBAShow https://t.co/57Ztw8pfkc pic.twitter.com/j0vphnLL7l
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) May 29, 2018
"“We just missed shots,” Rockets forward Trevor Ariza said after the loss. “Defensively I thought we played well, but we just didn’t make shots.”"
The #Rockets finished at 46 percent true shooting, their worst mark of the playoffs and their second-worst mark of the entire 2017-18 season. They made just 16 percent of their 3-pointers, their worst of the year. #RingerNBA (via @presidual) pic.twitter.com/Cyz4IRZnl3
— The Ringer (@ringer) May 29, 2018
Although most skeptics will seek to blame the Rockets’ demise on their style of play under Mike D’Antoni, Houston’s inability to convert wide open looks into points proved to be costly down the stretch, as missing shots from long range now leaves a team that once had championship goals wondering what possibly could have been had they somehow fallen.