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The worst Rockets playoff game ever?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by DREAM ON!, May 5, 2015.

  1. Nimo

    Nimo Member

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    Agreed!
     
  2. D12Eminem

    D12Eminem Member

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    This is exactly what me and some of my friends were speaking of. Ironic they said. I agree completely, and also think the game was ours except for some HUGE mental lapses.

    These mental lapses were detrimental to the lead early, but this team also needed to learn it can't coast. These are the playoffs, and Dwight was about the ONLY one who brought it the WHOLE game.
     
  3. photojoe

    photojoe Member

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    That loss was terrible. . In the second round of the playoffs, the Rockets were the number 2 seed and the Suns were number 3. Phoenix won game 1 in Houston. In game 2, Houston had a 20 point lead in the 4th quarter. After being up by 20 points, we let the game slip away to let the Phoenix Suns take a 2-0 lead against us. The next day, the newspaper headline read "Choke City!"


    You know what happened after that? The Rockets won the next 3 games in Phoenix and ended up winning the series in 7 games. They then went on to win the championship. And Choke City was forgotten as Clutch City was born.



    One loss in a playoff series can be bad. It be painful to watch and embarrassing. But it is only one loss, one game, in a very long series. If the Rockets are able to come back and win this series against the Clippers, we won't remember how horribly we played and how heartless we looked. We will only remember it as the motivation that the team needed. History hasn't been written yet and we don't know how this one game will be remembered. Let the series play out before we start declaring it one thing or the other.
     
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  4. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    That was a game 7 to our hated rival.

    We lost game 1 to the Clippers, which sucked, but it's game 1.
     
  5. DREAM ON!

    DREAM ON! Member

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    Of course i remember fyreball!!! That game 7 vs Dallas sucked. The PHX series in 94 and 95, hell ya those sucked. But, for me personally, last night was just above those, just from the effort stand point. As far as that Dallas series, to me giving up in a game 7, on the road is not shocking. Last night, just blew my mind!

    And its just the way i looked at it fyreball. Harden coming off being named runner-up for the MVP, Clippers playing without Paul, everything seemed there for them to come out and roll up on Clippers in game 1 and they just completely **** the bed.

    Here's to turning it all around in game 2!!!
     
  6. Nimo

    Nimo Member

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    Give it a few days. It won't hurt as bad then.

    To be honest, game 6 last year was harder for me.
     
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  7. Baba Booey

    Baba Booey Contributing Member

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    That was a terrible loss last night, but it's nowhere close to Choke City. Choke City was nearly unbearable.

    (and it was coming on the heels of a blown 32 point halftime lead in Buffalo a few years prior.)
     
  8. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Contributing Member

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    It's tough to say right now simply because we don't know how the rest of this series will play out. If they wind up losing in 6 games, then yes I'd probably put it at the top of the list since it could be said it cost them a trip to the Western Conference Finals. But what if instead it galvanizes the team and they recover from the loss to come back and win the series? Won't we actually look back at Game 1 as maybe a turning point and a blessing in disguise?

    Look at it this way. Those 2 blown leads in the Phoenix series in 1994(18 pts in Game 1, 20 pts in Game 2) were in retrospect the best thing that could've happened for that Rockets team. They matured from that experience and it instilled a level of confidence that also helped carry them to their second title the following year.

    For me, the worst Rockets playoff losses at the moment would be(in reverse order):

    4) Game 5 vs. Seattle in 1997 - The Rockets came home up 3-1 after taking two very close games(including Game 4 in OT) at Key Arena only to get completely outplayed at The Summit, which allowed the series to go til the final seconds of Game 7 before they finally overcame their Sonics curse. That Game 5 loss was costly as it left them exhausted heading into the Utah series(the Jazz had knocked off the Lakers in 5 and were well-rested).

    3) Game 7 vs. Utah in 2007 - The Rockets allowed Utah to open a 16 point lead in the first half, stormed all the way back to take a 5 point lead in the 4th, and then couldn't secure a single defensive rebound in the last 2 minutes which allowed Utah to eek out a 4 point win. The Rockets got badly outplayed in this one.

    2) Game 3 vs. Dallas in 2005 - I know everyone points to Game 7 because the Rockets lost by 40 points in embarrassing fashion, but really this is the one that sticks in my craw to this day. They were up by double digits in the 4th quarter and allowed Dallas to go on a huge run to steal the game and get themselves back in the series. If they'd taken care of business that night, I have no doubt the Mavs would've folded in Game 4 and the sweep would've been completed.

    1) Game 2 vs. LA Lakers in 1999 - Game 1 was bad enough when Pippen coughed up a win with a late turnover. But Game 2 was where Pippen truly became Quitten. The Rockets just gave up after losing a heartbreaker. They avoided a sweep in Game 3, but we all knew the series and season(and likely Pippen's career as a Rocket) were over after this pathetic performance.

    Last night's disaster gets an incomplete grade at the moment because, like I said, the series isn't over. Maybe a couple weeks from now, we'll view in a much more positive light. At least I hope that's the case.
     
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  9. DREAM ON!

    DREAM ON! Member

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    hopefully its the much needed "kick in rear" that gets them going again
     
  10. Shaq2Yao

    Shaq2Yao Member

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    That Rockets squad is the quintessential Yao/TMac squad. We got Yao and TMac and that's it. For goodness's sake, we have Ryan freaking Bowen starting against Dirk in his prime! Keith Van Horn's injury forced Avery Johnson to go small in Game 3. After that Rockets lost 3 straight and could not recover.
     
  11. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Contributing Member

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    I hope so too. Most teams that eventually win titles have to go through these experiences. Whether it's an agonizing defeat(Lillard's 3-pointer in Game 6) or an embarrassing ass-whooping(last night), it's how you respond to those moments that determines who you really are as players and as a team.

    The Clippers went through this just over a week ago. They coughed up Game 2 at home to the Spurs and then got humiliated in Game 3 in San Antonio. They responded in Game 4 though and then even after suffering another setback in Game 5, they stepped up yet again in Games 6 and 7.

    Tomorrow will be a good test for the Rockets. They failed to respond a year ago after choking Game 1 against Portland. We'll see how much(if any) they've matured over the past year.
     
  12. Chronz

    Chronz Member

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    But that was a series vs a superior team with MUCH greater talent. The Rockets were undermanned (having lost Juwan and trading away his backup for cap space), where the likes of Bowen were playing a key role. I can understand losing to a superior team after pushing them to the brink, but a team missing their best player? LMFAO worthy.
     
  13. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    I can't believe you brought up the pippen lakers series. I blocked that one out or my mind for years. Pippen blamed Mobley after kobe destroyed pippen?
     
  14. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Contributing Member

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    Pippen blamed everyone. I did agree with him that Rudy did a horrible job integrating his skills into the offense. He basically plugged him into the Robert Horry role. But that doesn't excuse his pathetic performances in Games 1, 2, and 4 of that series.
     
  15. DREAM ON!

    DREAM ON! Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  16. Chronz

    Chronz Member

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    Thats BS tho. He went to Portland afterwards and played no better, just more inspired. He never reverted to his star form so I dont blame anyone other than injuries for what happened to Pip. Pip could be the same guy, but you would all look at him differently if he played like a star.
     
  17. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    Lol at people's perception of 2005.
    We won game 6 to push it to a game 7.

    The mavericks were not 40 points better than the rockets.

    You can't even beat the computer on nba2k by 40
     
  18. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    Pippen was a #2 which we paid as #1 player on the team.

    Pippen really benefited from playing with jordan.

    He was not the man in Portland and irony that Robert horry beats him with la with all those clutch playoff performances

    However pippen purposely leaving left up on the bad end of a trade and send the organization backwards into the stone ages.
     
  19. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Contributing Member

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    I think he was a much better player that first year in Portland. Granted, he had a helluva talented team around him. But he was better than he was the previous season with the Rockets. It's true that injuries may have been a factor. He was coming off of back surgery in the lockout-shortened season he played here. Of course, he still managed to F up in the playoffs in Portland. That 15-point blown lead in the 4th quarter of Game 7 might be the 2nd worst choke I've ever seen(the 1st being the Spurs in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals).
     
  20. Liberon

    Liberon Rookie

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    They all probably partied 4-5 days straight after beating out Dallas and didn't get back to work until a night before and even then they were all still sobering up....
     

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