It’s Gut-Check Time For The Houston Rockets
Read that title. Yes, I said it — the Houston Rockets backed themselves into a corner and now they’re finally out.
All they have to do is win this game and they will have exceeded all of my expectations for this season.
This team reminds me of those Rockets’ teams of yesteryear that had superstars with a healthy mix of veterans as well.
This team certainly has those attributes and has the tools necessary to make a deep run the playoffs.
Let me tell you, Thursday’s night’s comeback win over the Los Angeles Clippers was improbable nearly unthinkable but the Rockets found a way to win that basketball game.
If that 4th quarter performance were made into a movie, there’s no way one could’ve written a better script.
But there’s an exception — this wasn’t a movie, it’s real life with emotion coupled with grit, sweat, strain all the characteristics that men are made of when it’s to lay it all on the line.
This was, by far, the greatest playoff performance since our last championship run back in the mid 1990s.
I was 14-years-old when the Rockets won the back-to-back championships so I remember quite vividly what that entailed.
I remember when Mario Elie hit his famous kiss-of-death shot in the corner in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semis, giving them a 113-110 lead over the Phoenix Suns with 7.1 seconds left.
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It was a surreal witnessing all of those moments as I was enthusiastically peering in front of the TV alongside my family.
Basketball was a big part of our household and when the Rockets were on, everything else would go on the back-burner.
Those were different times, I had no responsibilities other than going school and making sure I made my parents proud by making good grades.
I had always liked the game of basketball but after witnessing what transpired during those championship years gave me a greater affinity for the game itself.
It all came back full circle when I had the opportunity to attend the Rockets ceremony commemorating the back-to-back championships during their game against the Nuggets March 19th.
Getting to see most of my childhood heroes from those teams as they were announced one-by-one put a gleaming smile on my face that I couldn’t wipe away.
Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Elie, Robert Horry, Vernon Maxwell, Charles Jones, Pete Chilcutt, Matt Bullard, Eric Riley and many more were on-hand which was awesomeness at its finest.
It truly was a special night and it will be one that I will remember for the rest of my life.
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But fast-forward to the present — we have some of the same makeup of those teams — James Harden and Dwight Howard are the superstars while role players such as Trevor Ariza, Terrence Jones, Josh Smith, Corey Brewer, Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni are the role players.
Each player knows their role and how they contribute to this team.
It took a little longer for this series but these guys found their groove back and it’s time for them give it their all because there’s no tomorrow.
I couldn’t have been prouder of what J-Smoove and Brew did for us Thursday night because they were huge contributors in saving our season.
We could’ve rolled over, played possum but we didn’t — we never said die and had the confidence to beat the Clips 117-109 the other night.
We need another cohesive, fiery performance by the Rockets this afternoon and they must play tenacious on both ends of the floor and must not relent!
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These guys can do this but it’s going to take an effort that will stretch every fiber of the body to push themselves to the limits.
It’s gut-check time for the Rockets — let’s go make history and write another glorious chapter in our franchise’s history book.
By the way, tip-off for Game 7 takes place this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. CDT at Toyota Center.
The game will be televised on ABC and broadcast on NewsRadio 740 AM (KTRH)/ESPN 97.5 FM (KFNC).
Go Rockets!