After losing to the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs again, what’s next for the Houston Rockets?
So the Houston Rockets’ 2019 NBA season is over after they were beaten, once again (for the fourth time in five years), by the Golden State Warriors in six games in hard-fought, nail-biting second-round series.
After so many people said that they would have come out on top last year if it wasn’t for Chris Paul’s injury that caused him to miss Games 6 and 7, Houston was presented with a golden opportunity this year to put that debate to bed when Kevin Durant went down with a calf strain in the third quarter of Game 5, but they were not able to prevail and get over the hump.
Yes, a lot of it was because Steph went nuclear in the second half of game 6, scoring 33 points (23 in the 4th) but even with Curry’s heroics, the Rockets still had their chances down the stretch (they even held a seven-point fourth quarter lead at one point) but just failed to execute.
Now, Houston must buy into Einstein’s theory of insanity; they have to stop doing the same thing year after year, hoping for a different result. Changes have to be made but what is there that really can be done? Is their championship window closed? Or is there still some way to right this ship and get back to contention next year?
*Remember to check out the latest episode of “Around the Arc” where I’ll dive into this topic and more.