Had Harden, Luc and CP3 never got injured for their stretches could we possible be talking about a 70 plus win team? Not saying we should have won 70 games, but could we?
The thing I remember about the Pels game is Harden was fouled going up for a 3 and he made it. Ref called it on the floor, waved off the 3 and called side out. Rockets inbound the ball and miss a shot and the Pels go down next possession and hit a 3. Harden should have been on the line shooting an 'and 1' or at the very worst if the ref swallowed the whistle he would have just hit the 3 in what ended up being a 2 point game. I was really upset at the call being called wrong.
The first Clippers loss (and the Lakers game prior) were because the Rockets developed some very bad habits near the end of the 14-game win streak. The resulting 5-game losing streak probably taught them a lesson. The second Clippers loss was actually a very "good" one if you believe in such a thing. It bonded the team together and helped launch the Rockets on this crazy 25-2 run we are enjoying right now.
Good catch. Gerald had 11 scoreless minutes against the Celts. His first points for us this year were against the Wizards.
I guess these are kind of fair. Although, it's kind of dumb IMO that they needed to lose to get taught a lesson. Hated seeing Austin Rivers going off on us. I guess I overlooked the possibility that the second loss against the Clips was a bonding thing. I'm kind of on the opposite side, I much rather would've seen us dominate them even if Harden was sitting out. I would've been seriously pumped. I do believe in learning from your failures more than your successes, but I'd guess we'd be bonding anyway.
My experience is that those kind of tough losses can make or break a team. The fact that we used it to push us to greatness speaks volumes about the mentality of this team.
I was at that game... that is also the game that was once under protest. Not sure why we withdrew that protest...
When an NBA team has an extended period of dominant success during the season, a loss or two can serve as a helping of humble pie. The last few games of the 14-win streak, the Rockets had long periods of inattention and boredom during games. They bailed themselves out with some huge, incredible runs. It was clear to me the bubble needed to be popped. In that case, the popping turned into a very loud 5-game losing streak. I definitely don't believe in learning MORE from failures than successes. IMO, that is a dysfunctional way of living. But that's another subject altogether, probably for the Hangout.
That fluky Luc injury probably cost us 2 or 3 games, ugh... Looks like it won't matter standings wise now though, earlier rest would be nice!
Overall we could have had around 5 or 6 more wins but who cares.... weve seen plenty of teams over the years that win over sixty games come up short in the playoffs, sometimes in devastating fashion... remember the 67 win mavs in 2007 who lost to the 8th seeded Warriors, for instance?
Man, this writeup proves just how important depth/health is for teams. In most of those losses Webber & Bobby Brown were getting significant minutes lol.
