The Houston Rockets came within inches of dethroning the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately for the Houston squad, they fell short in Game 7 due to the absence of Chris Paul and a poor shooting performance from the otherwise excellent 3-point shooting team.
There are no moral victories in the NBA, especially not the playoffs, but P.J. Tucker thinks the loss helped build character. According to Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic, Tucker said:
“Dealing with adversity, losing CP was big. It was good character building, I think the biggest thing is building the team chemistry back up again.”
That loss will help motivate this Rockets team in the coming season. The Warriors improved in the offseason by adding All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, so the task will be even tougher for Houston this year.
But the Rockets saw roster turnover in the offseason as well, but it's unclear if they are better for it. They lost Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah A Moute in free agency, but they signed Carmelo Anthony. Melo is a sharpshooter from the outside and can take advantage of mismatches as a stretch 4. But it's unclear how much he can provide on the defensive end.
Ariza and Mbah A Moute were defensive stoppers, and the Rockets' stellar defense was a major part of their success last season. The Rockets were sixth in defensive rating last season with an official rating of 103.8, per NBA.com. They were second in offensive rating — only behind the Warriors.
The difficult loss to Golden State in the Western Conference Finals may have helped build character in Houston, but beating the Warriors will take much more than that.
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