What would you consider the turning points of 2000-2001? My three: vs. LA Clippers, 2/1/2001 L: 101-84. The nadir for both the club and the Dream. They had played (more or less) .500 ball through the first half of the season, and this shocked them back to life. vs. Philadelphia 76'ers, 2/7/2001 W: 112-87 Going into all-star weekend, the Rockets show they can beat "elite" teams (albeit in the east). This carried them through the streak. vs. Dallas Mavericks, 3/3/2001 L: 100-95 This is the loss that brought the team back to earth. The Phoenix and Seattle loses might have been more detrimental to their playoff hopes, but this started them back toward mediocre (.500) play. ------------------
The last loss to the Clipps of course. That was the beggining of the end of all playoff hopes. After that game I knew it was over although I chose to keep that to myself for a while. ------------------
If you look at it the win against the sixers was one that came from momentum of previous games. When they lost to the heat and clippers that was a low point for the team, but then they all got on the same page and were within one shot of beating the spurs. After that they beat the knicks, sixers and the wins kept piling up. ------------------
