Despite spending the offseason specifically constructing their roster to de-throne the Warriors, the Houston Rockets couldn’t find their way to the Finals.
The Houston Rockets set a franchise record this season when they won 65 games — a mark good enough to make them as the best team in the NBA (for the regular season, that is).
The Rockets made key offseason additions, including acquiring a future Hall of Fame point guard in Chris Paul to play next to the likely MVP, James Harden.
Over the summer and before the season started, there was a lot of skepticism surrounding how the two ball-dominant, alpha dogs would play alongside one another. Those arguments were quickly laid to rest.
James Harden and Chris Paul complemented each other perfectly.
Paul was fine letting Harden be the primary offensive weapon while he took care of the defensive responsibilities. The Rockets’ classic iso-ball thrived with two of the best isolation players in the game going back and forth on the offensive end. To put it simply, when one was cooking, the other let him work.
It was no secret that Houston assembled its roster to try and overcome a Golden State Warriors team that has consistently set the mark in the West. When the highly anticipated matchup came along, the Rockets were still heavy underdogs in most people’s eyes, despite having home-court advantage. The narrative that the Warriors were still the heavy favorites got a huge boost in popularity after Game 1. The Rockets simply looked outmatched in the biggest game of their season.
They stormed back, however, and took the basketball world by storm when they took a 3-2 series lead going back to Golden State for Game 6. The Warriors handily won Game 6 at home (as most expected), outlasted a tired and shorthanded Rockets side in Game 7, and the rest was history.
Let’s take a look at three reasons why the Houston Rockets’ season came to an end before reaching their goal of an NBA Finals appearance.