Game 7 against Seattle in 1993 was pretty tough, considering Kenny missed a wide open shot to win that game IIRC. Besides that, there is not too much. Losing games 3 and 4 at home to Dallas after being up 2-0 in 1995. Losing Game 7 last year after being up 88-83 with 6 minutes to go and T-Mac at the line to try to go up by 6. Jazz 8-0 run after that moment was horrible.
1) The Stockton 3-pointer in '97. I don't think the Rockets would've won Game 7 in Utah anyway, but the fact that we never got a chance to find out still kills me to this day. Also, the fact that we were up by I think 8 points with less than 2 minutes to go and blew this game doesn't help. 2) Blowing the 2-0 lead to Dallas in '05. This series should've ended in a sweep. The Rockets had a double-digit lead in the 3rd quarter in Game 3 and pissed it away. Everyone points to the Game 7 40-point blowout or Finley's "steal" in Game 5, but the Game 3 choke job is the one that'll always haunt me. 3) Barkley getting injured in Game 4 against the Jazz in '98. The Rockets had this series in the bag before Chuck got hurt. They were up 2-1 in the series and had a huge lead on Utah. When he went down, you could tell it just ripped the heart out of the team. Sure, the Rockets likely get their asses handed to them by the Spurs in the next round(that was their first year with Duncan who was already a superstar), but how sweet would it have been to get revenge against the Jazz for the '97 Conference Finals by knocking them out in the first round? As the 8th seed no less? 4) Losing Game 7 at home to the Jazz in '07. To be honest, I had a bad feeling about that game going into it. The Rockets had been playing with fire all series by spotting the Jazz double-digit first half leads at Toyota Center before rallying back to win. They'd dominated the 2nd halves of Games 1 and 2, but barely eeked out a Game 5 victory thanks to Chuck Hayes drawing a charge on Derek Fisher. So it didn't shock me when the Rockets ran out of gas after letting Utah go up by as many as 16 points and didn't have enough left in the tank to complete the comeback. That's a big reason why they were outhustled for those rebounds in the last minute of play. But the reason this haunts me more than anything else is that Dallas had already been eliminated by the Warriors. The Rockets would've had a clear path to the Conference Finals had they just won Game 7 at home. They probably lose to San Antonio eventually, but the fact that we never got to see it play out kills me. 5) Losing Game 7 in OT at Seattle in '93. This one haunts me for 2 reasons. First of all, that Game 7 should've been in Houston if we hadn't gotten screwed by the refs in San Antonio and screwed by ourselves by losing to the 11 win Mavs at home. And secondly, if the Rockets pull this one out(and they were THIS FREAKING CLOSE!!!), they play Phoenix in the Conference Finals. Dream's Rockets owned Barkley's Suns. In '93 and '97, we were so close to seeing the Bulls vs. Rockets series that never happened. The one comfort I take from this loss is that it spurred the Rockets on to their 2 straight titles.
Yao going down this season. Probably not the most painful ever, but man... I was depressed for about a week. We were doing so good... granted, we still kept doing good, but still...
That 93 game 7 is the worst in my memory, only reason most don't mention it is because that team went on to win it all the next 2 years but it still stings like crazy, esp. after Dream poured everything he had into that game. Stockton's shot was painful in 97. Sadly, I've been at the last 2 game 7s the Rockets have been and both stung like crazy. Last year was really painful because it was just right there for the taking, keeping my fingers crossed this year is payback!
*rudy getting hit by washington. *ralph blowing out his knee, and never returning to form. *wiggins and lloyd suspentions. 1. losing to utah at home in game 7. 2. stocktons 3 at the buzzer. 3. game 7, double OT loss to seattle. 4. losing to dallas in game 7. 5. seeing pippin TRADED FOR NOTHING!
My most painful memory as a Rockets Fan is Game 7 last season. I was working the game and we had to stand there in the visiting player tunnel and watch the last minute and a half of the game just go by and not one rebound, not one shot. And the worst thing about this was after the game, we had to watch the Jazz players walk through the tunnel, cheering and congratulating themselves on a win. That truly sucked.................
Well, I'll admit I've only been a Rockets fan post 05 so my most painful Rockets memory would be last year. We could have easily advanced to WCF if our Rockets took care of business. But... that would mean JVG would still be here and I don't think that's a good thing. Everything happens for a reason. If Yao can come back hungrier than ever next season, I'm sure this might be a good thing. On top of that, I think this team has found identity without him.
Stockton's shot but if we cannot come back in this series, this will break my heart....especially with the magical season we had....
Game-wise: Stockton's shot. I think this hurts the most because Eddie Johnson made a miraculous shot in Game 4 and I just kept thinking to myself "This is OUR YEAR!" after that. Personnel-wise: The Barkley trade. I remember watching the Phoenix news conference and seeing Bryant/Brown/Cassell/Horry holding up their Suns jerseys and thought as a kid "wow...this is all coming to an end" like they just had split up a family or something. Present Day-wise: When Adelman decided to put Luther Head into the game on Tuesday, thinking that it might work out.
The worst thing about this one is up until that point in game four, you could see Utah was done. Would have been sweet to roll those guys in four and go on another Clutch City underdog run.
definitely stockton shot...i was there to witness.....i thought i was going to faint and fall off the 2nd level...
for me it was 1993 Game 7 in Seattle. Other notables include the Malone bearhug and subsequent Stockton 3 pointer. Also 98 when Barkley tore his biceps. We had the Jazz in a stranglehold and were about to close them out that game in Houston.
