The curtain has finally closed on the strangest, most exciting Houston Rockets season in years. All the games have been played, all the scores tallied. The Rockets weren’t able to pull off a historic upset of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, losing at home in a wild game six. They might not have broken out of the first round of the playoffs, but they broke out of the three year funk they had been mired in. This season might be over for Houston, but this team is just getting started. Read More
Thanks for the ride, Houston Rockets
- To begin, it was pretty disappointing to see how many people left the game before the final buzzer sounded. By the 1 minute mark, 75% of the arena had emptied out. On a Friday night, on the last game of the season, I thought it would have been a nice gesture to stick around until the end and give a show of appreciation to the team for exceeding all expectations, making the playoffs and almost forcing a Game 7. But in Houston, it wasn’t to be.
- From the get-go, it was deafening in Toyota Center. For maybe the first time I can remember, everyone had already arrived before tipoff and was standing. When Kendrick Perkins and Francisco Garcia had to be separated on what was pretty much the very first play of the game, it was enough for the capacity crowd to completely lose it. Things stayed that way until the 4th.
Oklahoma City Thunder 103, Houston Rockets 94 – School’s out for Summer
It sounded LOUD in the Toyota Center. Looked great with everyone dressed in red. The crowd was all set to will their team to victory, and for a long time the Rockets looked like they were capable of obliging them. But unfortunately the team was unable to pull it off and the Thunder escaped from Houston with the win.
I can’t feel too bummed about it, because frankly at 3-0 down it looked like it was going to be a sweep. Harden et al. have shown so much potential over the course of this series that it’s difficult not to feel incredibly optimistic about what the future holds. And yet, for large parts of this game it felt like it was there for the taking before the Thunder pulled away in the final frame. The Rockets will have to take solace from pushing the #1 seed so far, and look to come back stronger in the Autumn.
Posted in postgame recaps Tagged Oklahoma City Thunder, playoffs, recap Merged Comments Sharethis Permalink
The Rockets Daily – May 3, 2013
What’s My Name? – So, after Houston’s win on Wednesday night, a reporter asked Chandler Parsons about a mental lapse from Kevin Durant regarding Omer Asik. Parsons response was classic.
Reporter: After the game, Kevin Durant said ‘We hacked whatever-his-name-is.’ Didn’t know his name. Does that surprise you?
Parsons: He knew his name. That’s ridiculous. The guy’s had two double-doubles in a row. He’s one of the best centers in the NBA. He knows his name. If he didn’t, then he does for sure now.
Excellent. Now we have the biggest setup for an athlete to scream “What’s my name?” since Ali whooped Floyd Patterson. Come on, Omer–float like a butterfly; sting like a bee.
Hack-A-Turk – The Rockets have been the toast of ESPN since the Game 5 victory, and Asik’s resilience at the line has been a popular talking point. For instance, every contributor in a 5-on-5 called the strategy a bad call, with Ethan Sherwood Strauss writing the clincher:
Ethan Sherwood Strauss, ESPN.com: Bad call. As ESPN stats whiz Alok Pattani points out, such a strategy would only make sense if Asik were a 45 percent free throw shooter or worse. The big man shot 56 percent on freebies this season, well above that threshold. There just wasn’t a firm logical basis for what Scott Brooks did. It conveyed a lack of trust in his defense while not helping Oklahoma City in any tangible way. Awful move.
Game 6 Preview: 3-on-3 – OKC at Houston
Three Red94 writers weigh in on three pressing questions about game 6 between the Thunder and the Rockets.
1. Houston could be the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit because…
Michael Pina: The opposing team’s second best player is out for the playoffs with a knee injury. Before Russell Westbrook went down, most already though the Rockets could win one, even two, games in this series. But their small-ball lineups now look extra explosive with Scott Brooks playing Derek Fisher 30 minutes a game.
Rob Dover: The Thunder just aren’t the same team without Westbrook. The Rockets can exploit his absence – they are free to key on Durant and don’t have to worry about their frail transition defense being abused. McHale has been comprehensively outcoaching Brooks and on the back of his smallball tactics the Rockets are capable of getting hot and swiping the last two games.
Paul McGuire:It looks like they’ve managed to regain their shooting touch from long range. The Rockets shot under 33% from long range for all 3 losses, but shot above 40% in their two wins. Something as mercurial as 3 point shooting can go away in an instant, but Houston cannot afford that if they want to make history. Read More
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