Rockets have the right stuff, but it must show up on floor
Talent — as in size, speed and dexterity — and chemistry earned them a significant number of wins this season.
Veteran guile and experience generated many more.
Outstanding coaching and a smartly developed scheme helped them post the best record in the NBA.
With old-fashioned “Who are they?” confidence, they cruised past Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.
Impudence — as in, “Seriously?” — kicked in as they rebounded from a Game 2 loss to win three straight, including two games on the road, against the Jazz in the second round.
Pride took over when they all but scoffed at the thought that a record 41-point loss to Golden State in Game 3 of the next round was in any
way a measure of who they are.
True grit and toughness came through in the fight back to victory from a 12-point hole early in the fourth quarter of Game 4, and again in the triumph of a grueling test of stamina in Game 5.
Now, these Rockets face a winner-take-all scenario in which, at some point, all of the above will be required.
They have them all — the measurable, palpable and intangible — but will they bring them to Toyota Center for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Monday?
The cliché “leave it all on the court” is like a song with excellent music but inferior lyrics. It is so inadequate.
Leaving everything you brought on the court is meaningless if you bring little to the building to begin with. To borrow from the late Robin Harris, rob a person who has no money, and all you’re going to get is practice.
The Rockets don’t need to be better than they are to beat the Warriors. They simply need to be who they have been. They are that good. “We’re a confident group, and we’ve just got one chance,” James Harden said.
The Rockets entered the Warriors series knowing the margin for error was slimmer than usual because of their opponent.
Golden State has won two of the last three NBA championships and has by far the best record in the NBA over that span, winning 35 more games than the next-best team, with a winning percentage of 81 percent compared to No. 2 San Antonio at 70 percent.
The Warriors have not only been the best team in the NBA over the last four years, they have been vicious. Oppressive even.
Reveal any crack in your armor, and the Warriors jam in a crowbar, open it up, and pour 3-pointers into it like hot oil.
They were cooking with fish grease Saturday night, when the Rockets came apart in the second half of Game 6.
Coach Mike D’Antoni’s squad turned the ball over a serieshigh 21 times and lost its focus on the other end of the court.
Almost every time the Rockets got caught napping, Klay Thompson or Steph Curry would wake ’em up with a trey.
The Splash Brothers, as they are often called, rained 3s to the tune of 11-for-15 in the second half as the Warriors outscored the Rockets 64-25.
Thompson, who led all scorers with 35 points, hit nine 3-pointers in the game, tied for the second-most made in an NBA playoff game.
According to NBA tracking, no Rockets player was within four feet of him on any of those makes (and three of his misses).
Leaving that many wideopen shots for the player who has made more 3-pointers than anyone in the playoffs is an inexcusable lapse of defensive concentration. (As was leaving Curry all alone for 12 open or wide-open looks from beyond the 3-point line. He sank only four, or the rout would have been worse.)
As the Warriors poured it on, the Rockets’ confidence was quieted, their grit gone.
The Rockets threw in the towel early in the fourth quarter, a period in which they scored a measly nine points. Any time you do that against the Warriors, who have posted three of the top 11 all-time margin-of-victory seasons, it will end brutally.
“Live with the results” became an oft-repeated phrase by the Rockets this season. Three losses in the series by an average of 27.7 points are numbers with which the Rockets shouldn’t live comfortably.
While this has been a spectacular year, a joyous ride even in defeat Monday should be deemed a success, the Rockets have put too much into it to leave anything at home now.
Game 7 isn’t a test of what the Rockets are made of. It is an opportunity to put who they truly are on display.
They have taken and passed all tests while learning to play together, overcoming major injuries, and building a strong defensive identity.
The Rockets have enough talent, experience, coaching, confidence, pride and toughness to win the NBA championship. They never take the floor without those.
True grit and toughness, which they left in the locker room at halftime Saturday night, are what make them a championship-caliber squad.
Bring them Monday night, and Game 7 will be theirs.