Professional sports is a bottom-line business: You either win or you lose. True enough.
However, the complexities of competition and the plot twists provided by all sorts of events — especially injuries — rightly alter the ways in which we assess coaches and players. There can certainly be honor in losing — you just have to lose well.
Right now, the Houston Rockets aren’t losing well at all in the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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The problem with the Rockets is not that they’re down 2-1 to the Clips, or even that they’re down 2-1 with Chris Paul having played a grand total of 23 minutes, all in Friday’s Game 3. No, the real issue with Houston is how poorly it is competing in this series. Dumb fouls, dumber shots, and matador defense from a roster filled with long-wingspan players are all painting the Rockets in the worst possible light. Houston hasn’t merely lost to the Clippers with Paul in a diminished capacity, and Blake Griffin averaging five turnovers per game in the series; the Rockets have been run out of the building in their two defeats.
What makes the Rockets’ performance in this series appalling (and no, that doesn’t seem to be an inappropriate term at this point) is that this team fought so well in the regular season. The Rockets — without Chris Bosh, without Chandler Parsons, without the expected mix of players that was supposed to create a title-contending team — climbed past their limitations. They endured the late-season (March 23) injury to Patrick Beverley and won the highly contentious Southwest Division, the one division in the NBA which placed all five of its teams in the playoffs… and did so in the cutthroat Western Conference.
Kevin McHale, under the gun to show something this season, marvelously worked with — and around — the difficulties he faced. James Harden, benefiting from Mike Krzyzewski’s guidance during the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball, actually played defense (!) and made Houston a far better team as a result. Even a midseason acquisition for Josh Smith from the Detroit Pistons brought out Smith’s better qualities for a period of time. Smith functioned well in the regular season with his Houston teammates.
This team showed heart and determination. It knuckled down and committed itself to defense. Houston won a lot of respect for the way it carried itself through the regular season, especially the final three weeks without Beverley. Few teams received more bad luck in the 2014 free-agency derby, so the Rockets’ ability to snag the No. 2 seed in the West represented a substantial achievement.
Now, that accomplishment is quickly fading away. It will be obliterated from the memories of fans and pundits if Houston can’t at least compete better in the remainder of this series against the Clippers, who are closing in on the first conference finals appearance in franchise history.
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The Clippers’ performance in this series shows what the playoffs are supposed to elicit from competing teams and players. It’s something Houston should study before Sunday evening’s Game 4.
One round ago, Los Angeles was in a position similar to what Houston faced when it didn’t show up in a Game 3 blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Trailing 2-1 and owning a history defined by nothing other than sadness, the Clippers were not expected to win in San Antonio in Game 4 of that series. After losing Game 5 at home, they were not expected to survive Game 6 against one of the NBA’s most esteemed franchise. In moments of crisis, however, the Clippers rose to the challenge. They won those two road games against Team Popovich and played a remarkably great Game 7 against the Spurs a week ago.
Everything that happened to the Clippers against the Spurs — everything that tested them and required them to pour out more effort than ever before — has transformed and toughened Doc Rivers’s team. A bench that was a liability throughout the regular season and in most of the Spurs series has been sensational against Houston. If you identify Austin Rivers as a bench player — even though he started in Chris Paul’s place in Game 1 — the Clippers’ bench has been highly productive throughout this series. In Game 3, Rivers’s 25 points matched Houston’s entire bench production. The Clippers’ reserves outscored the Rockets’ bench, 46-25.
The Clippers’ ability to grow larger without Chris Paul magnifies the extent to which the Rockets have suddenly shrunk without Beverley, their defensive rock in the backcourt. Sure, losing Beverley is a rough break for Houston, but Chris Paul not playing Game 1 should have been the Rockets’ chance to take control of the series at the start. They failed miserably, and now, with Paul able to play at least 20 minutes, they’re really up against it heading into Game 4.
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Difficult situations cry out for leadership, but James Harden has never been known as a leader — a brilliant scorer, yes, but not a leader. Josh Smith has clearly regressed in this series, relative to his regular-season stint with the Rockets. His rash of terrible shots helped fuel the Clippers’ 23-0 run late in the third quarter of Game 3.
Then there’s Dwight Howard, who was fantastic last year in the playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers. Howard did everything he could to lead the Rockets to victory in that series. Houston truly lost well a year ago. The Rockets played with pride and purpose, only for Portland’s combination of Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge to come up with some special shotmaking under pressure.
This year, though, Howard is drifting through a quiet series, while the energy of the Clippers has taken hold. The following isn’t (in my mind) a career-long assessment, only a series-specific statement, and when viewed in that narrow context, it’s accurate:
https://twitter.com/jdubs88/status/596900131468877826
The Rockets will own an offseason filled with regrets if they can’t beat the Clippers, given that Chris Paul is dealing with a not-fully-healthy hamstring. That’s bad enough. However, the Rockets can at least lose well, fighting hard on defense instead of being called out by Hubie Brown during that 23-0 Clipper run in Game 3.
“Ya gotta keep working, Houston,” Brown said at one point, trying to delicately and diplomatically point out that the Rockets were quitting.
Houston can lose to the Clippers in a contentious six- or seven-game series and feel that it gave it a good run this season, even with Pat Beverley out of the mix. If the Rockets go down swinging, their regular season will still be looked on with some degree of appreciation and admiration.
If Houston doesn’t put up more of a fight in this series, however, losing meekly in Game 4 and failing to offer a robust challenge to a team that has historically faltered in the postseason, no one will remember that No. 2 seed or that Southwest Division title.
James Harden, Dwight Howard, and Josh Smith: The Clippers defied expectations and grew a pair when they were being pushed by the Spurs. This is your time to show that you’re made of sterner stuff. Sunday night in L.A., we’ll be watching.
