The Rockets Got What They Wanted
2017–2018 Was A Success For Houston
Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets spent the 2017 NBA offseason building a team to compete with the Golden State Warriors over a seven-game playoff series. And boy did it work. Chris Paul, PJ Tucker, and Luc Mbah a Moute joined forces with the existing core of James Harden, Clint Capela, and Eric Gordon to do some special things in Houston.
The Rockets won 65 games, had the second-best offense in the league, a much-improved defense, and, most importantly, the West’s #1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
After ripping through the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz in 5 games apiece, the Rockets faced the Warriors in the most anticipated matchup of the season. Many people doubted that the Rockets would be able to put up a fight, a position that was reinforced after the beatdown the Warriors put on the Rockets in Game 1. Then something changed.
The Rockets ended up with a 3–2 series lead, but it came with a heavy price. Chris Paul strained his hamstring and ended up missing the last two games. So after the Rockets blew a lead in Game 6, the series culminated in a winner take all Game 7, in Houston.
The Rockets lost that game and subsequently the series, but they faced things out of their control. Chris Paul and Luc Mbah a Moute were injured in the specific game that they had been brought in for. The officiating crew made some questionable no calls on 3 James Harden 3-pointers, even waving off a potential 4-point play. And of course, the 27 straight missed 3-pointers.
Many Rockets fan may view the 2017–2018 season as a failure. Personally, I think it was a success. Daryl Morey and the Rockets had a vision and executed it and it almost worked. They just ran up against the best collection of pure talent we’ve ever seen in the NBA. And despite that, they pushed them to seven games; further than we’ve seen anyone else take them.
For showing the NBA that the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty is not infallible, the Rockets succeeded. Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals took place in Houston. The Rockets made getting home court advantage over the Warriors a priority. They executed that priority. The Rockets made assembling a team capable of challenging, even beating, the Warriors their main priority. They executed that priority, coming within 24 basketball minutes of the NBA Finals. Within that 24 minutes, the Rockets were a hamstring, a shoulder, and 4 (out of 27; 15%) more made 3-pointers away.
Such a spectacular season makes it difficult for the Rockets to get better, but they are almost there already. Contrary to popular belief in Houston so far (post WCF), the Rockets’ season was a success. Anytime a team has a stated goal, like the Rockets, and comes as close as they did to it, they have to be satisfied. The best Rockets’ squad in team history ran into a collection ofAll-Stars, 3 of the NBA’s best shooters, 2 MVPs, whatever Draymond Green is, and another Finals MVP. Pushing that team to its absolute max is admirable and not something to be discarded.
