It was not Houston’s night in their regular-season finale, and the Rockets blew their second straight double-digit lead to the Thunder on Tuesday to lose in Oklahoma City to end a fantastic 2018-19 season.
Houston led by as many as 15 and was up 13 at the close of the third quarter — but a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter gave the Thunder comeback that concluded by a dramatic three-pointer from Paul George to down the Rockets, 112-111.
Unfortunately, the Denver Nuggets lost tonight to the Utah Jazz. So had Houston won, they would have clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Now, they’re facing the possibility of the third or fourth seed.
The Portland Trail Blazers won against the LA. Lakers tonight (Tuesday) and if they win again tomorrow (Wednesday) against the Sacramento Kings, and the Nuggets also win against the Minnesota Timberwolves (Wednesday), the Rockets will plunge to No. 4.
It is definitely a gut-punch for a team that not just played so well all game against OKC, but was on a pretty glorious win streak to end the season.
James Harden finished with 39 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists — and unfortunately had his only miss from the free throw line of the night with nine seconds left in the game.
Chris Paul, who looks like he is quite ready for the playoffs, chipped in 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Clint Capela had 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and Gerald Green had 15 points in 15 minutes, shooting 5-9 from beyond the arc. P.J. Tucker had a strong defensive game guarding George all night, but scored just four points and missed all three of his 3-pointers.
Sure, this one hurts, but it’s playoffs time and THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN THE NBA PLAYOFFS.
