The playoff woes of the Houston Rockets
The date was July 4, 2016. When millions of Americans were getting ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, free agent MVP and All-Star Kevin Durant shook the sports world when he published on The Players’ Tribune that he was choosing to join the Golden State Warriors. Having won the NBA title in 2015 and winning an NBA-record 73 games before losing in the Finals in 2016, the Warriors had already established themselves as a juggernaut in the league. Now, with the addition of KD alongside fellow MVP Stephen Curry and All-Stars Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Golden State was considered unstoppable for the foreseeable future.
The Warriors showed that in 2016–17, winning 67 games and cruising to a second NBA championship in three years by going 16–1 in the playoffs. Coming into this season, the same was to be expected. However, despite a 53–18 record through 71 games on Thursday, it has been anything but the same.
From injuries to sloppy play offensively to inconsistency on the defensive end, the Warriors have looked mentally and physically worn down at times this season. Much of that can be attributed to the fact that the Warriors have played almost an extra season of games over the last four years because of their deep playoff runs. Playing in so many big playoff games in June has taken away Golden State’s motivation for the regular season.
But there’s another reason why murmurs are beginning to grow that the Warriors might be stoppable: the emergence of the Houston Rockets. Through Thursday, the Rockets hold the best record in the NBA at 57–14 and, barring a late surge from Golden State, are on their way to claiming the top seed in the Western Conference and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Houston also has the best road record in the league and the best home record in the Western Conference this year.
The Rockets rank first in the NBA in offensive efficiency this season, as well as in the top 10 in the league in defensive efficiency. Currently holding the largest point differential in the NBA, Houston is second only to Golden State in scoring this season. The Rockets also rank in the top 10 in the league in three-point shooting.
But what makes this Rockets team so interesting, and maybe its biggest hurdle heading into the playoffs, is how its trio of leaders have fallen short of winning in their careers. Winning an NBA championship, let alone getting to the Finals, has eluded several on this Houston team that it could be the thing that brings and binds this team together on its title run against the Warriors.
Leading the NBA in scoring this year at 31.2 points per game, All-Star James Harden is well on his way to winning his first MVP award and scoring title. But postseason success is something that has eluded him. In fact, Harden has become more synonymous with playoff disappointment.
Harden’s breakout season came in 2012 when he won Sixth Man of the Year as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Alongside future All-Stars and MVPs in Durant and Russell Westbrook, Harden emerged as an x-factor for an Oklahoma City team that would reach the NBA Finals. Harden’s ability to come off the bench and provide instant offense for the Thunder was a difference maker in the West playoffs. However, when Oklahoma City took on the Miami Heat in the Finals, the Heat’s stifling defense took Harden completely out of the series. He was a non-factor, and the young Thunder were sent packing in five games by the veteran Heat.
In his second season as a member of the Rockets, Harden made his second straight All-Star team and first appearance on the All-NBA First Team. He also helped Houston win 54 games and earn home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. However, the Portland Trail Blazers completely dominated Houston from start to finish. LaMarcus Aldridge ate Dwight Howard alive down low, and Damian Lillard did this to send the Rockets home in six games:
In 2015, Harden and the Rockets took another leap by winning 56 games and locking up the second-best record in the Western Conference. After rolling over the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, Harden and the Rockets made the comeback of a lifetime against the Los Angeles Clippers in the West semifinals. Down 3–1 in the series, the Rockets rallied to win the series in seven games. But in the conference finals, the eventual-champion Warriors rolled over Houston in five games.
In 2016, the Rockets struggled and fell back to the eight seed in the West, falling once again to the Warriors in five games in the first round. But in 2017, under new head coach Mike D’Antoni, Harden and the Rockets bounced back by capturing 55 wins and locking up the three seed in the West. Having led the league in assists, Harden helped push Houston past Oklahoma City in the first round in five games. But in the West semifinals, the San Antonio Spurs bounced the Rockets in six games. However, it was this performance by Harden in Game 6 at home which served as the defining moment of the series:
10 points on 2–of-11 shooting was how Harden finished his season in 2017. While it was a great season for Harden, the last memory that anyone had from it was that performance where the Spurs completely shut him down in an elimination game. It’s a moment that is still seared into the minds of NBA fans and media members to this day, and it is sure to be discussed at length when the playoffs begin next month. If Harden is going to win his first NBA title and overtake the Warriors, he will need to overcome the demons and nightmares that have plagued him in the postseason.
The only other player on the Houston Rockets who has had worst luck in the playoffs is All-Star Chris Paul, who ranks in the top 10 in the NBA in both assists and steals this year. CP3 has never made it past the conference semifinals in his career despite making the playoffs nine times in the last decade.
CP3 made his first All-Star team and All-NBA First Team in 2008, his third year in the league after winning Rookie of the Year in 2006. It was also his first time leading the NBA in both assists and steals. But his team, the New Orleans Hornets, had gone 56–26 on the season and finished with the second-best record in the West. After defeating Dallas in the first round, the Hornets were eliminated in the second round by the Spurs in seven games. But what defined that playoff series was CP3 and New Orleans losing a Game 7 on their home floor.
In 2009 and 2011, Paul and the Hornets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers. It was after the 2010–11 season when CP3 was traded to the Clippers.
When CP3 got to LA and formed Lob City alongside Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, many assumed that appearances in the conference finals and NBA Finals were on the way. However, from 2012–17, the team could never get out of the second round in the West.
In 2012, CP3 and the Clippers got past the Memphis Grizzlies in seven games in the first round. But in the West semifinals, the Clippers were swept in four games by the Spurs. In 2013, Paul and the Clippers set a franchise-record 56 wins and would face Memphis again in the first round. However, it was the Grizzlies who came out on top this time.
Heading into 2014, the Clippers brought in Doc Rivers to take over as head coach and help LA get over its playoff struggles. The Clippers won 57 games and defeated the Warriors in the opening round of the playoffs in seven games. Then, in the West semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Clippers were eliminated in six games. But what defined that playoff series loss was CP3’s mind-blowing mistakes in the final minutes in Game 5.
In 2015, the Clippers won 56 games and locked up the №3 seed in the West. In the first round, the Clippers defeated the defending-champion Spurs in seven games. The series ended with CP3 hitting a game-winning shot to eliminate San Antonio:
It seemed as if CP3’s playoff woes were finally over and had been vanquished. This was the Clippers’ best shot at getting to the conference finals and NBA Finals in Lob City. Up 3–1 over Houston in the West semifinals, it seemed as if the curse and bad luck would be broken. But then, as mentioned earlier in this piece, the Clippers would blow a 3–1 series lead and lose in seven games to the Rockets. The Clippers with CP3, Griffin, and Jordan would never get closer to contending for a title. Their best chance at advancing deep into the playoffs and winning it all had passed them by, and no one knew yet that the window had closed. Of course, the 25-point meltdown in Game 6 at home up 3–2 became the memorable moment of the series:
In 2016, the Clippers secured the fourth seed in the West and won 50 games for the fourth straight year. But in their first round series against Portland, both CP3 and Griffin would go down with injuries. With its two best players out, LA was eliminated in six games by the Trail Blazers. In 2017, the Clippers once again claimed the №4 seed and won 50 games. However, it would not end differently for LA: it was eliminated in seven games by the Utah Jazz on its home floor. This would end up being the last playoff run of the CP3, Griffin, and Jordan era in LA. Lob City was over.
Chris Paul is desperate to win a title. He’s desperate just to make it to the conference finals. He’s a nine-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA First Team member, seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member, a four-time league assists leader, and six-time league steals leader. With two Olympic gold medals, CP3 is only a missing an NBA title to add to his Hall of Fame resume. During this past offseason, he felt Houston gave him a better chance to win than LA. He chose to join up with Harden, another player who has struggled in the playoffs. Both will have to overcome their playoff disappointments together, but they are not alone: their head coach knows what it feels like too.
Mike D’Antoni is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year. However, he has neither coached in the NBA Finals nor won a title. He, like Harden and CP3, has had little to no success in the playoffs as a coach.
In 2004–05, D’Antoni earned Coach of the Year honors as he led the iconic “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns to a 62–20 record. With two-time MVP Steve Nash and All-Stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, the Suns won 50 or more games in four consecutive seasons. But their success in the regular season didn’t translate to the playoffs under D’Antoni.
In 2005, the Suns opened up the playoffs with series wins over the Grizzlies and Mavericks. However, Phoenix was dominated by the eventual-champion Spurs in the conference finals and eliminated in five games. D’Antoni losing to Gregg Popovich in the playoffs would become a recurring theme over the next decade-plus.
In 2006, the Suns advanced once again to the Western Conference Finals after a pair of seven-game series wins over the Clippers and Lakers. But, once again, Phoenix was eliminated in the conference finals by Dallas. Then, in 2007 and 2008, D’Antoni’s Suns were eliminated in back-to-back years by Popovich’s Spurs. In 2007, it came in the conference semifinals before losing in the first round in 2008.
When D’Antoni coached the New York Knicks, he brought the Knicks to the playoffs twice in his four seasons. However, both appearances in 2011 and 2012 with Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire ended in the first round and produced only one playoff win. In 2011, the Boston Celtics swept the Knicks while the eventual-champion Heat sent the Knicks packing in five games in 2012.
Then, D’Antoni became the head coach of the Lakers. He was reunited with Nash, and he had the opportunity to coach Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Pau Gasol. However, it would turn into a complete disaster. In his two seasons as head coach, the Lakers made the playoffs only once. It ended in a four-game sweep in the first round to Popovich and the Spurs in 2013. Not to mention, D’Antoni’s All-Stars and future Hall of Famers could not get along at all.
As it was already outlined and discussed beforehand, D’Antoni’s first season in Houston was a success. He led Houston to 55 wins and the №3 seed in the West, as he earned his second Coach of the Year honors. However, the Rockets were eliminated in six games by the Spurs in the conference semifinals after defeating Oklahoma City in the first round. D’Antoni is now 0–5 against Popovich in the playoffs.
So James Harden, Chris Paul, and Mike D’Antoni have all been devoid of postseason success in their respective careers. A championship is the only thing each lacks at this point. With home court advantage likely throughout the playoffs, the Rockets are in as good of a spot as they can be to win the title. The opportunity sits perfectly right in front of them to take it. Now, let’s see if Houston, led by a trio of men who have struggled in the playoffs, can vanquish its postseason demons and reclaim basketball glory by taking down the omnipotent Warriors. If the trio of Harden, CP3, and D’Antoni can finally reach the mountain top of the NBA by dethroning Golden State, it could be a story for the ages.
