The Houston Rockets are back at the drawing board after losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors.
Entering the 2025 NBA playoffs, two teams were on upset watch: the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. Both teams carried themselves more like “pretenders” than “contenders,” although the Knicks were able to beat the Detroit Pistons in six games.
The second-seeded Rockets, meanwhile, almost overcame a 3-1 series deficit, but lost to the seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors in front of their home fans.
In the decisive Game 7, the Rockets made only six shots from deep, and Jalen Green continued to be a non-factor on offense, finishing with only eight points.
In the first half, the Rockets held Stephen Curry to only three points and Jimmy Butler to eight, succeeding in their main mission, although it wasn’t enough.
Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty ImagesWarriors enjoyed surprise performance when they needed it most
This offseason, the Warriors traded for Buddy Hield. Hield has long been one of the best shooters in the league, but up until this season, he had made the playoffs only once, and his defense kept him out of meaningful minutes.
There were concerns that the Warriors would fall victim to his track record, although in Game 7, the most important game of his life, he shot nine-for-11 from deep and led the team with 33 points.
The Rockets, distracted by Curry, forgot to do much to stop Hield, and he made them pay.
“If you’re thinking of Houston and Ime’s game plan and the players executing it, they actually executed it perfectly,” said Ryen Russillo. “You just don’t expect Buddy Hield to go for 23 in the first half.”
Houston, on the defensive end at least, managed to contain Curry for much of the game, but it didn’t really matter, as the Warriors led for the entirety of the final three quarters.
Russillo praised the way the Rockets executed their game plan, while pointing out the one key flaw; their errant shooting.
“It’s incredibly frustrating for the Houston team. That probably feels like they did a lot of things right tonight, but you know, they ended up with six made 3s,” Russillo finished.
“Three of those were garbage time. So over the course of the game, being competitive, a team that averaged 11 3s in Games 1 through 6 had three. So technically they had six in this one, but you know, when you and I were talking this morning, it’s almost like Buddy Hield, even though less is expected of them, took on the VanVleet role that we’ve seen in the last few games.”
The Rockets, with their current roster, simply can’t make a run at the NBA Finals, which have eluded them since the 1990s.
Rockets have to confront an unfortunate reality
Jalen Green, one of the Rockets’ best players, averaged only 13.3 points per game in the series. He was largely guarded by Hield, who, again, is not a great defender, and shot only 45.5% from the floor and 33.3% from deep in those minutes.
The Rockets are a gritty, deep team with plenty of talent, but they lack a star to get them over the hump. They have been linked to both Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo as possible trade candidates, and adding either would improve their roster significantly for a playoff push next year.
Depending on how the offseason goes, it’s very probable that the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and perhaps even San Antonio Spurs pass the Rockets in the standings. Green is on a tradeable contract, and his poor playoff performance this year makes him expendable, especially for a proven star.
Their current roster is not built to win championships, and big steps need to be taken from the franchise this summer, other than just continuing to develop internally.