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[The Ringer] The Greatest NBA Team [2018 Rockets] to Never Make the Finals

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Commodore, Oct 8, 2025 at 10:35 AM.

  1. Commodore

    Commodore Member

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    https://www.theringer.com/2025/10/08/nba/houston-rockets-2018-best-team-to-never-make-nba-finals

    ...To me, the 2018 Houston Rockets reside a centimeter above the field. Engineered by Daryl Morey, guided by Mike D’Antoni, propelled by James Harden, and enriched by Chris Paul, they were the peak of a groundbreaking half-decade run that paired ingenious star power with a system designed to heighten all the players’ finest qualities. Not only were they a steamroller, but those Rockets also helped accelerate basketball’s embrace of a two-way style that defines the age we currently live in.

    The Rockets finished that regular season with the fourth-highest winning percentage of any team that didn’t reach the Finals in this century. They won 65 games and finished first in net rating, first in offensive rating, and—most notably, considering the long-standing reputations held by their head coach and best player—seventh in defensive rating. They had Harden, that season’s Most Valuable Player and scoring leader and one of the great individual scheme breakers of all time at the absolute apex of his game. He averaged 30.4 points per game and led the league in 3s, free throws, PER, and usage rate. Not bad.

    They also had Paul, another perennial MVP candidate who packed more brainpower into a possession than any player this side of LeBron James. He had shocked the league that offseason by picking up his player option with the Los Angeles Clippers and accepting a trade to the Rockets that would prohibit him from testing free agency and earning a massive payday.

    Paul finished the year sixth in assist rate, had what up until then was the second-highest true shooting percentage of his first-ballot Hall of Fame career, and ensured that lineups without Harden would still obliterate the opposition: In the 876 minutes Houston played with Paul and without Harden, its net rating was plus-12.7, per databallr. Of note: CP3 came to the Rockets after six straight seasons making first-team All-Defensive with the Clippers. He was 32 years old and missed 14 of the season’s opening 15 games with a bruised knee, but he could still produce like a two-way tactician of the highest order.

    When you go back and look at the rest of the roster, its pure talent might not appear more impressive than that of a few other teams warranting attention at the top of this list. Houston’s third-, fourth-, and fifth-leading scorers were Eric Gordon, Clint Capela, and Gerald Green. Ryan Anderson, Trevor Ariza, and P.J. Tucker all spent lengthy stretches in the starting five....
     
    #1 Commodore, Oct 8, 2025 at 10:35 AM
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  2. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Consolation for Mike Dan Tony is that he won 2 Euroleague titles and 2x Olympic Gold meals as an Assistant.
     
    #2 daywalker02, Oct 8, 2025 at 10:39 AM
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  3. Plowman

    Plowman Member

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    Yeah, the League had to go all out to prevent it.

    86 Rockets also
     
    #3 Plowman, Oct 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
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  4. clos4life

    clos4life Member

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    A hamstring away, along with some ref shenanigans.
     
    #4 clos4life, Oct 8, 2025 at 11:06 AM
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  5. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    that team was really all-time great level, because even without Chris Paul and some of the worst rigging in history along with a historic 27 straight misses from deep, a team of Curry/Klay/KD/Draymond still struggled to beat a team of just Harden and role players

    CP3 missed 24 games, and it was still a 65 win team
     
    #5 Reeko, Oct 8, 2025 at 11:23 AM
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  6. Dobbizzle

    Dobbizzle Member

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    I saw something pop up on social media earlier about Beard and man you really do forget sometimes how incredible that run was. I do think it was a shame we could never get enough help that we weren't easily shut down just by beating James, but man, what he did achieve is ridiculous when you look at it all on paper. Criminally underrated player tbh.
     
    #6 Dobbizzle, Oct 8, 2025 at 11:46 AM
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  7. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard
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    You have a hard time convincing me that the Lakers didn't have just as much cocaine as the Rockets...
     
    #7 lnchan, Oct 8, 2025 at 1:42 PM
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  8. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard
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    The refs were so bad in that Game 7...
     
    #8 lnchan, Oct 8, 2025 at 1:46 PM
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  9. MystikArkitect

    MystikArkitect Member
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    Lakers, Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers have never cheated. Ever.

    It's those pesky Clippers, Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Raptors, etc etc etc. that seem to be the cheats.
     
    #9 MystikArkitect, Oct 8, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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  10. Codman

    Codman Member

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    Game 7 was terrible, but Trev will never get the respect he's owed for that series and his time on the Rockets in general. You could go to war with Trev and , regardless of the score or outcome, he never strayed away from his purpose and role, while always focusing on making winning plays.

    He's happy doing family life and raising his amazing kids, but I bet Trev could still play some meaningful minutes at his young age of 40. He was always a phenomenal athlete.
     
    #10 Codman, Oct 8, 2025 at 2:11 PM
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  11. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Member

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    I'll never forgive Scott Foster for what he did in Game 7.
     
    #11 count_dough-ku, Oct 8, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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  12. krosfyah

    krosfyah Member

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    That season had some historically odd ball things that contributed to that nearly historic championship.

    #1: How is it possible to miss 27 consecutive 3s? There are so many alternate universes where that doesn't happen, but D'Antoni should have pressed a different button that day. This result is crazy on several levels.
    #2: Harden became so dependent on his step back 3, that he was literally unable to step forward any longer. It was one of the strangest things I can recall from any professional sport. I was screaming "just drive it in for a floater!!!!" But he literally couldn't do it. That whole thing just broke my brain.
    #3: Those refs sucked. If they had the coach's challenge now, that series ends differently.
    #4: The universal narrative against Harden was epic, unmatched, I'd say.
    • Foul seeking (which prob contributes to #3)
    • He's traveling (no more/less than Curry but never mind that)
    • Doesn't play defense (that season he was a + defender, esp in the post)
    • He's a quitter (well, hard to defend that one, but the dude was a baller. How about giving him some help?)
     
    #12 krosfyah, Oct 8, 2025 at 3:46 PM
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  13. mac_got_this

    mac_got_this Member

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    His floater disappeared during the Minny and Utah series. Remember early in the postseason, they played that weird defense on Hardne where they gave up the paint and he was driving and attempting that floater but it wouldn’t go down. It was weird. His floater never returned after that.
     
    #13 mac_got_this, Oct 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
  14. Buck Turgidson

    Buck Turgidson Member

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    96-97 Rockets? If we're talking only Rox
     
    #14 Buck Turgidson, Oct 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
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  15. BamBam

    BamBam Member

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    [​IMG]

    Highly implausible would be my take!
    I personally have my own opinion on the matter... but I digress :cool:

    .......
    .......
    .......
     
    #15 BamBam, Oct 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
  16. Spacemoth

    Spacemoth Member

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    The NBA is a glorified WWF. It's an exclusive club and they shut Harden and CP3 out.

    But now we don't have to worry about that. Our new best friend KD. Let's hope the NBA lets him in one more time.

    And Amen. Amen busting that door down as the next great American superstar the NBA so desperately needs. One that doesn't have 29 baby mamas, and who doesn't like to tear his Achilles.

    And Alpy. We'll see how much the NBA cares about Turkish money.
     
    #16 Spacemoth, Oct 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
  17. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    It is between him, Flagg, Darryn Peterson and likely Dybantsa.
     
    #17 daywalker02, Oct 10, 2025 at 10:36 AM
  18. jordnnnn

    jordnnnn Member

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    What is the ringer smoking? Harden is a bum and Morey is an idiot. How could a team led by a bum and put together by an idiot win 65 games and be considered the best non finals team ever?
     
    #18 jordnnnn, Oct 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
  19. ROXTXIA

    ROXTXIA Member

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    I'll never forget during that series. The announcers: "Let's ask former ref Steve Javie about these no-calls...."
    "Well," said Javie, smiling (of course), "the refs probably don't want to reward Harden for what can be perceived as flopping....."
    I was screaming at the TV: "What do you expect him to say!?!?!? He's in on the grift."

    Watching the Warriors jump into the 3-point shooters' space with no calls. Of course our players were falling; they were desperate to get the call they should have been getting. Plus, you can't land cleanly unless you twist an ankle.

    Also, C-Webb and Reggie calling correctly during the game: "How is that not a foul? How is that not a foul?" (against GSW)
    Then, when the league got what they wanted in GSW returning to the Finals, Reggie after the game, reading that script: "And once again James Harden could not close the deal."

    Even Andrew Bogut remarked that when he was on Park Avenue he could shoot someone and get away with----oh, wait, that's Trump. Bogut said he could clothesline opposing players knowing there would be no call.

    Goddamnit, now I'm all mad again.
     
    #19 ROXTXIA, Oct 10, 2025 at 11:17 AM
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