Same ugly result despite comeback
Unable to convert on late chances, skid reaches 20 with narrow loss
Rockets coach Stephen Silas could barely speak, not so much spitting out the words, but letting them drop, the pain obvious in every syllable.
This was to be the one, the game that finally would end the long, agonizing losing streak. But by now, the Rockets don’t just lose. They tease and then torture themselves by placing what they want so desperately to within reach and then it escapes their grasp.
They ignored minutes restrictions. They came back from another double-digit deficit. They turned to their starters for the final eight and a half minutes as if far more than
just one game on a Sunday afternoon was on the line because, for them, it was.
The Rockets had a lastminute shot at the rim for the lead, and then another at the buzzer for the win. Nothing changed. The Oklahoma City Thunder held on to win 114-112 at Toyota Center, sending the Rockets to a 20th consecutive defeat, the sixthlongest losing streak in NBA history.
“Yeah, this one, this one hurts,” Silas finally said.
Of all the losses piled up since Feb. 4, none hurt quite so badly.
“Very frustrating,” Rockets center Christian Wood said.
Asked if the loss was tougher than the others, he said, “Uh, yeah.”
The Rockets were playing a team as depleted by injuries and absences as they have been for nearly seven weeks. The Thunder were at Rockets levels of shorthanded, playing without guard Shai Gilgeous Alexander, center Al Horford, forward Josh Hall, forward Darius Bazley and guard George Hill.
The opportunity to win, however, at least was as evident when they had tantalizing chances to break through at last.
The Rockets (11-30) had taken the lead, their first since late in the first quarter, on a John Wall drive with 2:47 remaining. They never made another shot. They needed just one. They had hurt themselves with Wall and Jae’Sean Tate each missing free throws in the final two and a half minutes, leaving the Rockets down one heading into the final minute, and throughout the game when they never could secure their defensive boards.
Victor Oladipo missed a 3-pointer for the lead, but when Lu Dort missed, the Rockets were still within one with 18 seconds left.
Wall saw an opening, beating Dort off the dribble just the sort of opportunity he wanted. And with it, he had to feel the long, painful losing streak finally at an end.
Wall took off for the rim and shot for the lead only to have Dort catch him and swat it away at the last moment with nine seconds left.
The Rockets still had a last chance to steal the win. OKC rookie Aleksej Pokusevski made just one of two free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining. The Rockets set up a play at the time out, but looked confused about what they were running. After inbounding with 4.9 seconds left, the Rockets could not get a good look.
The Rockets inbounded to Wall more than 40 feet from the basket with Wood moving to set a screen at the top of the key. Wood turned and headed inside. Wall, who had made 1 of 6 3s, took one dribble and launched a 3-pointer from 29 feet, missing badly.
“It worked out that way,” Silas said of the execution of the final play. “It was supposed to end up in a pick-and-roll. It didn’t.”
What went wrong, however, was not that clear. Wood did move as if he was going to set a screen for Wall, but then turned as if to set a pin-down screen for Oladipo. By then, Tate had already inbounded the ball and time rapidly was running out.
“When I got the ball, there were three people on the side when Tate got the ball to me,” Wall said. “He stepped in. C-Wood was right there on the wing where I think he should have been in the corner. Vic was supposed to set a screen or slip it. I took one or two dribbles, there was time for none of that. I took the shot I felt comfortable with.”
With Wall’s miss, the Rockets ended the game missing their final four shots and 2 of 4 free throws in the final two and a half minutes after taking a lead.
Asked if the weight of the losses had been building, leading to the Rockets to be tight down the stretch, Silas needed nine seconds, most spent rubbing his forehead with a fist, to come up with a response and said simply, “Yeah.”
The pain on his face said much more.