The Houston Rockets have returned to the drawings after losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors.
Two teams were upset as they took part in the 2025 NBA playoffs. The New York Knicks and Houston Rocket. Both teams carried themselves like “gifts” rather than “candidates”, but the Knicks managed to defeat the Detroit Piston in six games.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Rocket almost overcame a 3-1 series deficit, but lost to the seventh Golden State Warriors in front of home fans.
In the decisive game seven, the Rockets took just six shots from the deep, while Jalen Green remained non-factored on offense, finishing with just eight points.
In the first half, the Rockets put Stephen Curry to just three points and Jimmy Butler to eight, which wasn’t enough, but they managed to get on the main mission.
This offseason, the Warriors traded for Buddy Heald. Hield has been one of the best shooting games in the league for a long time, but up until this season, he was making the playoffs only once, so his defenses kept him out in a meaningful few minutes.
There were concerns that the Warriors would fall victim to his track record, but in Game 7, the most important game of his life, he shot 9-for-9 from the Deep, leading the team with 33 points.
Distracted by curry, the Rockets forget to do much to stop Haald, and he lets them pay.
“If you’re thinking of a Houston and IME game plan and players who will run it, they actually did it perfectly,” Ryen Russillo said. “I don’t think Buddy Heald will be 23 in the first half.”
Houston was able to contain Curry for the majority of the game, at least on the defensive side, but that wasn’t really important as the Warriors led the entire last three quarters.
Russillo praised the way the Rockets implemented their game plan, pointing out one important flaw. Their false shooting.
“It’s very frustrating for the Houston team. It feels like they’ve probably done a lot tonight, but you know, they ended up with six 3Ss,” Russillo finished.
“Three of those were garbage time, so we had three teams that were competitive over the course of the game, with 1 to 6 averaged 11 3 seconds.
The Rockets, along with their current roster, are unable to run in the NBA Finals, which they have escaped since the 1990s.
Jalen Green, one of the Rockets’ best players, averaged only 13.3 points in the series. He was primarily protected by Hield. Hield wasn’t a good defender again, only shooting 45.5% off the floor.
The Rockets are a rough, deep team with plenty of talent, but they don’t have the stars to cross the Hump. They are linked to both Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetocomo as possible trade candidates, and adding either will significantly improve the roster for next year’s playoff push.
Depending on how the offseason goes, the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and perhaps even the San Antonio Spurs are very likely to pass the ranking rocket. Green has a tradeable deal, and the decline in his playoff performance this year makes him more likely to consume, especially for the proven star.
Their current roster hasn’t been built to win a championship, so they’ll have to take a big step out of the franchise this summer.