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The Houston Rockets are the world's leading innovators in the field of losing. Tonight, they pulled a fast one on all of us by fighting to an 8 point lead with three minutes left in the game and then allowing Luka Doncic to go an an 11-0 run by himself. The claws of their spiritual malaise are tightening, and the spark that motivated them last season seems to be replaced by an unavoidable resignation and an uncanny ability to fail in unpredictable fashion.
James Harden scored 35 points on 22 shots and was a -8 on the night. Clint Capela scored 12, shot at 75% and grabbed 13 boards and was a -16. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. A 19-year-old rookie was the best player on the floor in the last five minutes of the game, and a team in the middle of a rebuild has looked flat out better than them all season.
The Rockets are about to face a murderer's row of tough opponents, but it doesn't matter. They'll lose to anyone and everyone, because their problem isn't a lack of talent or skill or competence. They collapse and they give games up. If they manage to hold it together, they can beat anyone. But since they can't keep it together, they lose to everyone. They're bad, and the only thing they're good at is surprising us.
Stop watching the Rockets.
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