Damian Lillard’s series-clinching buzzer beater is the most recent in a long line of daggers thrust through the hearts of Houston sports fans. Witness the 1997 Western Conference Finals, the 1992 AFC Divisional Playoff, and the 1986 NLCS, among others.
While the abrupt ending to the most entertaining series in one of the more memorable first rounds in NBA playoff history left many Rockets fans hanging their heads, several others have taken to scratching theirs. “How could this happen?” many wonder aloud.
These aren’t just the delusional ramblings of a fan base attempting to recover from the sporting equivalent of a swift kick to the groin. Fans are noticeably upset: not just about the outcome, but about the failure from the top down to draw up and execute a defensive scheme that could have (and should have) made things a bit more difficult on Lillard and the Blazers.
Take nothing away from Damian Lillard. There’s a reason that even good shooters miss their three-point attempts almost 60% of the time. It’s a tough shot even without the game on the line, and he made it look easy.
But let’s face it: he had some help in making it look so easy.
First, James Harden, whom no one will ever mistake for a defensive mastermind, inexplicably called for the Rockets to switch their defensive match-ups just prior to the inbounds play. He signaled for Patrick Beverley, one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and a notorious Lillard-irritant, to switch off of Lillard and guard Mo Williams. Williams’ defender, Chandler Parsons, would guard Lillard.
Never mind the seeming insanity of a team’s worst defender making the executive decision to take the team’s best defender off of the Blazers’ best offensive player for a play that could potentially end the season. What’s equally as disturbing is: why did Beverley and Parsons listen? What changed from the moment they broke the huddle to the moment they lined up defensively?
To suggest that there was some manner of confusion as to who should be guarding whom is to point the finger squarely in the chest of Rockets’ head coach Kevin McHale. After a Parsons put back with only 0.9 seconds left on the clock gave the Rockets a two-point lead, Houston had not one, but two 20-second timeouts (one called by Portland, one by the Rockets) to set up their defense. If an NBA head coach cannot communicate simple defensive assignments to his players in such a critical situation, then he should not be an NBA head coach.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that McHale is not incompetent and that Harden was simply reminding his teammates of the plan that they had somehow forgotten during the grueling 20-foot pilgrimage to the other side of the court. The most important question of them all, the one that has Houston fans beating their collective heads against the wall yet again, still has yet to be addressed.
How could the Rockets have expected anyone but Lillard to take the final shot?
Sure, Lamarcus Aldridge was having his way with the Houston bigs throughout the series and is arguably more important to the Blazers’ success than Lillard. But 0.9 seconds is hardly enough time for anything more than a quick catch and shoot, making Aldridge a less-than-desirable first option in this particular scenario.
Who better to step up and take the final shot than the emerging young point guard who earned the nickname “Silent Assassin” after nailing back-to-back game winners in December? Certainly Houston would focus on him, given the circumstances and Lillard’s history of hitting big shots in big situations. It should be a no-brainer, right?
Right?
And yet there were the Rockets. Chasing down the Blazers’ young stud with a slow-footed Chandler Parsons trailing some two steps behind and looking on helplessly as Lillard ripped their hearts out.
Plenty of things went wrong for Houston on that last fateful play. They should have known better than to have allowed for confusion on defense in the final second of a playoff game. They should have known better than to have their worst defender making adjustments on the court right before that final second ticked off the clock.
Most importantly, they should have known better than to let the other team’s most dangerous player run wide open and drain a practically-uncontested shot to rob them of an opportunity to return home and compete in a Game 7.
It was Lillard’s game to win or lose. He knew it. The Blazers knew it. Everyone in the stadium knew it.
Somehow the Rockets didn’t. And it cost them their season.
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Main Photo Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
