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3-pointers: Takeaways from Rockets' loss to Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY — Takeaways from the Rockets' 112-111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night:

The Rockets wanted the second seed.

They assumed it would provide a better first-round matchup.

It would give them home-court advantage in the second round, no small consideration since in that scenario they likely would have to meet either the Nuggets or Trail Blazers on one of the toughest home courts in the league.

They even wanted the statement that would come from the long climb from the depths of 11-14 to the second seed.

That slipped away in the closing seconds Tuesday. If the results go as expected Wednesday, the Rockets will finish in a tie for third in the Western Conference and as the fourth seed. That might not be all bad.

A Nuggets loss Wednesday would lift the Rockets back to the second seed, but that is exceedingly unlikely in Denver, where the Nuggets are 33-7 and the Timberwolves will not be playing Karl-Anthony Towns and are 0-3 against the Nuggets this season.

A Trail Blazers loss would keep the Rockets in third. But the Blazers are home against the Kings, who have nothing to play for, having lost their chance at a winning season, their oft-stated goal, with a home loss to a smattering of the Pelicans.

If the Nuggets and Blazers win, the Rockets are fourth and would open against the Jazz.

That is not all bad. They would still have home-court advantage and playing the Jazz is probably better than going against the Thunder again, having lost three of four games to Oklahoma City.

That would, however, mean going against the Warriors in the second round, rather than the Western Conference Finals, if both advance.

That too might be a good thing.

It's never a good time to play the Warriors. Being on the other side of the Western Conference bracket would allow for one additional chance for someone else to knock off the champions. If the Warriors had a chance, after four consecutive Finals runs, to be worn out somewhere along the way, that is not going to happen in the second round, especially with the Warriors likely to have a much easier time in the first round than the Rockets or Jazz.

The Rockets, however, need to be at their best and likely to find another level of their best. Getting the toughest opponent possible earlier, if the Rockets get there, might be better than facing them later. Since the Rockets' goal is not to get as far as they can, but to win a championship, they almost certainly will have to play the Warriors sometime. Might as well play them whenever they have the best chance to beat them.

The Rockets' confidence, despite the loss, is back where it was last season. There were some missteps down the stretch then when everything was already clinched.

The road will likely be tougher, with the Jazz better than they were when the Rockets beat them in the second round last season and certainly a tougher opponent than the Timberwolves were a year ago. The Warriors in the second round would be better than everyone.

Still, the Rockets have long insisted their concern was with how they are playing, not where and against whom in the playoffs. The loss Tuesday did not change that they have been playing exceedingly well for nearly two months. Now, they get a chance to see where that can take them, even if they begin at a starting position they did not want.

1. As often as the NBA is labeled "a make or miss league" with the final seconds seeming to be as clear an example of that as is possible, for the Rockets it did not have to beat them, at least not then.

Paul George did make the corner 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left that became the game-winner. James Harden missed a 3 off the dribble at the buzzer. Either goes differently and the Rockets finish the regular season with a win and head home as the No. 2 seed. Instead, the Rockets likely will drop to fourth.

The Rockets, however, let the game slip away much earlier, when they had a 14-point lead and had eight consecutive empty possessions.

They missed some open 3s in that stretch. That can happen. Eric Gordon, who has been sensational since the All-Star break — with the exception of the loss in Milwaukee when he played hurt, went scoreless and was desperately missed — made just 2 of 9 3-pointers, missing in that stretch. Danuel House Jr., who had made 46.7 percent of his 3s in his 14 games since returning from the G League, went 0 for 4 from deep. But the Rockets also bogged down in that stretch.

They were not as aggressive, turning the ball over three times in that 15-0 OKC run when they were forced to try desperate, low-percentage passes. The last of the misses came when James Harden to launch a long, off-balance 3 to beat the shot clock.

The Rockets recovered in time. Harden set up Clint Capela inside and then on a lob. He drew fouls and made free throws. The Rockets reached the final half-minute needing just one more stop. But by then, things can go either way.

In the postseason, games within a team's grasp need to be won. The opponents are too good. They are going to be the better team some nights, too. When the Rockets are the better team, as they were through most of Tuesday's game, they need to finish what they start with the same intensity, same execution as was needed to build the lead. Tuesday's loss was a reminder of that.

The loss was costly. There could be something to gain from it, too. The Rockets would seem to have learned that lesson along the way, but if this leads to them being a bit more focused, a bit sharper the next time they have a double-digit lead, the loss would not be all bad.

Still, they would have liked to get that reminder and have one more make or one more OKC miss in the final seconds.

2. The Rockets could blame their fall from second in the Western Conference most likely to fourth was the result of the final game. But just as citing the final shots as responsible for the loss, rather than the breakdown earlier in the fourth quarter, would miss what had the greater impact on losing the game, the losses along the way that are far more difficult to accept played a larger role in finishing fourth than the final night of the regular season.

There is little point in determining which loss that should not have been cost them. There were several greater than losing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter on Tuesday.

There was even a loss more disastrous against the Thunder, when the Rockets lost despite leading by 26 against Oklahoma City at home. The Rockets lost after holding an eight-point lead in the last minute against the Nets. They lost despite playing a New Orleans team with nearly every key player out.

In a long season, those things happen. The Rockets had seemed to overcome that. But they also had spent most of the margin for error, to where after the best run since the All-Star break in the NBA, they still needed to win in Oklahoma City. Even when they were their best late in the season, they lost in Memphis.

The work it took to overcome all that was not without its benefits and not just because the Rockets will open the playoffs with home-court advantage. To turn things around, they had to become a better team. They had to become the sort of team that can win in the postseason. They did that. Their place in the bracket will not change how they feel about their post-season chances. But the damage was done and could not all be undone.

3. Nuggets coach Michael Malone denied that he sat his regulars Sunday in Portland to manipulate the playoff bracket. It would seem to have paid off if he did, with Paul George's corner 3 moving the Nuggets one home win from the second seed and Maurice Harkless' corner 3 moving the Trail Blazers one home win from third.

If he did not want to have to beat both the Warriors and Rockets in the postseason, he will likely get his wish, though he said he just rested players that needed it, with a few not needing it until the fourth quarter.

If Malone or Portland coach Terry Stotts check out the video of the Rockets and Thunder, they might consider the benefits of a loss, or feel like they are not winning much with wins Wednesday.

A first-round matchup with the Thunder for either the Blazers or Nuggets is not much of a prize.

The Blazers likely will not even consider not doing all they can to win and finish third, just as the Nuggets will chase the second seed. Like the Nuggets, the Blazers would not want to play the Warriors in the second round, as they would if they fall to fourth and win their first-round series while the Warriors win theirs. But a first-round matchup with the Thunder, for all the OKC struggles, still looks like a rough way to advance.

The Thunder bench, even bolstered by the strong play of Dennis Schroder, still seems short. Other than Schroder, Billy Donovan does not know just what he'll get off the bench and generally limits his reserves to short stints. But Paul George and Russell Westbrook remain spectacular. They are not shooting a high percentage, but the Thunder defense is so good and they are so tough in the closing minutes, they don't have to.

The Rockets will not see the Thunder in the first round. If they were not so determined to not concern themselves with the opponent, they could be happy about that. Denver or Portland will start with Oklahoma City. Malone and Stotts might want to give themselves a day before examining that tape.