Houston Rockets: Seven reasons why the team should have more titles

2009 – Winning without Yao?

It was tough seeing Yao Ming go down with an injury in the series against the Lakers. But to know the injury cost the Rockets dearly was even worse. Sure, there was no doubt the Lakers were winning game seven at the Staples Center with Kobe Bryant at the helm, but what might’ve been. Houston wins game seven in our experiment and now, we decide if the Rockets would march on without Yao Ming.

Awaiting the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals are the Denver Nuggets led by Houston Rocket wannabe Carmelo Anthony. Can Houston stun the Nuggets or will Carmelo get a chance to win a championship for Denver?

2009 Western Conference Finals – Denver Nuggets vs. Houston Rockets

Game 1 in Denver: Nuggets 107-85 (1-0 DEN)

Game 2 in Denver: Nuggets 95-86 (2-0 DEN)

Game 3 in Houston: Rockets 101-94 (2-1 DEN)

Game 4 in Houston: Rockets 95-94 (2-2)

Game 5 in Denver: Nuggets 97-89 (3-2 DEN)

Game 6 in Houston: Rockets 101-92 (3-3)

Game 7 in Denver: Nuggets 112-103 (4-3 DEN)

Denver Nuggets win series 4-3.

This boils down to two conclusions. Number one is Yao’s injury bothered Houston to where T-Mac carried the team as far as they could go. Number two is nobody was winning a road game. While this hurts because I think Houston could’ve beaten Orlando in the finals. But in conclusion, the 2000’s Rockets are labeled as a team that was good, but not good enough.

Sure, the Rockets won one championship in our experiment in the 2000s. However, reality or fiction, they were simply no match for the Spurs or Lakers in terms of consistency and teamwork. Injuries and role support affected their chances of being a great team.

But with that said, we can now move on to another year where the Rockets could’ve won. Let’s go to 2014.