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The Houston Rockets were eliminated from the 2020 NBA playoffs on Saturday, as the Los Angeles Lakers completed a gentleman's sweep with a 119-96 victory in Game 5. But to slap a box and one on Gordon, not Westbrook, is about as telling as it gets. The Rockets had to open the lane for drives, because Westbrook is something not too far from worthless as a floor spacer next to Harden. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. But the Rockets aren't that team anymore. Over the final two games of the series the Lakers out-rebounded the Rockets by 46, grabbing over 62 percent of the available boards. Throw in 53 percent from the free throw line, and under 35 percent on all shots outside five feet, and yeah, that's not going to cut it. Those are the exact shots the Rockets ignore, except for Westbrook, who took 27 shots between 10 feet and the 3-point arc in the playoffs, per NBA.com's shot tracking data. This one has Russell Westbrook. However polarizing, it seems the gloves may have helped Westbrook warm up before the big game: The Thunder beat the Lakers 107 to 100. Perhaps the Rockets still would've gone small and traded Capela with Paul on board, but with Westbrook, there was just no other choice. They have, irrefutably, two of the top three players still alive in the playoffs. It was a fun experiment that reinvigorated the rapidly dwindling enthusiasm surrounding the Rockets, probably even within their own locker room. He waited until Game 5 to start having Harden's ball screen set farther out so he could get going downhill before the double arrived. That'll be true for the next coach, too, assuming Daryl Morey and his philosophy survive. Russell ... stepped out in an eyebrow-raising outfit before his latest game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. The Rockets were in position to win both Games 2 and 3. We saw that predictable, head-down offense doesn't work even with a physical freak like Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Westbrook is no Antetokounmpo. “It’s like a runway before every game I thought this was basketball,” one person commented on a video posted by the NBA. All Rights Reserved. That team had Chris Paul. 12:56 am ET, who reportedly will not be returning to Houston next season, Pelicans, Saints owner victim of carjacking attempt, Clippers to hire Lue as new head coach, per report, Report: Rockets search down to three candidates, Report: Melo may 'want to follow' CP3 to Knicks. He accepts the double, passes out, then doesn't move another inch. He didn't want to keep playing with Paul, who is just irrefutably better than Westbrook, and there aren't any take-backs in the NBA. All you can do is move forward, even if the prospects for doing so in Houston are anything but promising. Sign up for the For The Win newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. But somewhere along the line we attached inflated expectations to the Rockets, in part because they have James Harden, in part because it's been burned into our heads that their mathematic approach to basketball somehow makes them less beholden to the actual talent on their roster, and also because we all still remember them coming this close to knocking off the Kevin Durant-Steph Curry Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference finals. That's what the playoffs demand. In the playoffs, unless you're in the ilk of LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard or Kevin Durant, defenses are usually able to cut into what you do best, if not take it away entirely, thus forcing you to tap into your second and third dimensions. The Daryl Morey era in Houston is over. Turns out they were dead either way. He could've tried some adjustments earlier in the series. The Lakers were coming with their doubles late in the clock, and Harden waited until Game 5 to finally start going quicker, before the second man arrived. © 2004-2020 CBS Interactive. The 2019-20 season couldn't have gone much better for Dwight Howard. Through the first four games vs. L.A., Harden averaged fewer than three shots and five points in the fourth quarter. That doesn't just kill you in the form of tangible second-chance points, but it saps your energy, which the Rockets were already conspicuously devoid of for much of this series. Here are the photos, along with Wade's... Sleeping with a championship trophy isn't that out of the ordinary. And he was. You think about the logic of turning your non-Harden minutes over to Westbrook, a bad shooter who makes a lot of awful decisions, instead of Paul, one of the greatest point guards ever, and you just scratch your head. Your Ad Choices We can only hope this continues — and it probably will when these two teams meet again on March 5. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. "I can't believe you cheated me for the last four years. Morey took over as Houston's general manager in May of 2007, helping to build multiple Rockets contenders and also stretching the boundaries of the game this past season by committing to the "small ball" look that was the talk of league circles for some time.

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