{"id":137502,"date":"2025-05-03T13:06:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T17:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=137502"},"modified":"2025-05-03T13:09:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T17:09:04","slug":"nba-history-houston-rockets-game-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/03\/nba-history-houston-rockets-game-7\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA History on the Line for the Houston Rockets in Game 7"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Only 13 teams have overcome a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.landofbasketball.com\/statistics\/playoff_series_3_1_recovered.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">3-1 series deficit in NBA history<\/a>, and the Houston Rockets have done it twice so far. If they win Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, they will become the only team in league history to do it three times. The Rockets first completed the comeback in 1995 and went on to win a title. The second time, they lost in the following round in the Conference Finals.<\/p>\n<p>Usually, being down 3-1 indicates the end of the series. However, the Rockets are among the few teams that have overcome the huge disadvantage.<\/p>\n<h2>NBA History on the Line for the Houston Rockets in Game 7<\/h2>\n<h3>Did the Warriors Let Go of the Rope?<\/h3>\n<p>In the Hoop Collective podcast, Brian Windhorst mentioned the similarities between the 2015 Los Angeles Clippers and this year\u2019s Warriors. Both played the Rockets and led 3-1 in the series. In the 2015 playoffs, Houston completed a comeback and won the matchup. This Rockets team has the same chance. Windhorst said,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am just going to say that the first step towards blowing a 3-1 lead is laying down in Game Five. That doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re going to blow a 3-1 lead. I remember watching that game way back in 2015 when the Clippers blew their first 3-1 lead against the Rockets. They come into Houston and do a similar thing, where they just totally don\u2019t take the game seriously, and get blown out. I am not saying that\u2019s what\u2019s happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jalen Brunson MAGIC \ud83e\ude84 Ant has ARRIVED \ud83d\ude24 Lakers\u2019 future \ud83d\udd2e + Game 7\ufe0f\u20e3 in Denver | The Hoop Collective\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yOhN_BW0WO0?start=4024&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In Game 5, the Warriors emptied their bench in the third quarter. Head coach Steve Kerr probably wanted to give his starters the night off and rest them for Game 6. But with the Golden State losing big time in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/30\/rockets-game-5-offseason\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Game 5<\/a>, most of the stars were having fun on the bench. After Game 6, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a> spoke <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZctIiRo1wLg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post-game<\/a> about how the Rockets want to win more. He said,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to beat this team, you got to make second and third efforts. In the last two games, we have not done that. The reality is the person who wants the ball more will get it. Right now, it seems as if they want it more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although the stat sheet might not show it, the Warriors have played very loosely in the last two games. While they outrebounded Houston in Game 5, their hustle has not been there, and Green is pointing to that.<\/p>\n<h3>Will the Rockets\u2019 Lack of Experience Cost Them Game 7?<\/h3>\n<p>The last time the Rockets played in a Game 7 was in 2020 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. Not a single player from that roster is on this team.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_137530\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-137530\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-137530 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) reacts after making a three-point basket against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter of game six of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_26078146_168402036_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-137530\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">May 2, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) reacts after making a three-point basket against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter of game six of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On the other hand, the Warriors have played in several Game 7s during their championship runs and have a more experienced roster. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a> has played in five Game 7s with a 3-2 record.<\/p>\n<h3>History Is Not on the Rockets\u2019 Side<\/h3>\n<p>The Rockets will be playing against history in Game 7. A total of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.landofbasketball.com\/statistics\/playoff_series_3_1.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">292 playoff series have had a 3-1 deficit<\/a>. In 279 of them, the team leading eventually won the series. That is an astonishing 95.5%.<\/p>\n<p>In the first round, there were 89 situations in which a team led 3-1. In 86 of those, the team leading the series won it, for a 96.6% winning percentage.<\/p>\n<p>This Warriors team has been on both sides of the ball. They have come back from a 3-1 deficit before and won. But they have also blown leads before. Will Golden State finish off Houston? The odds suggest yes, but the Rockets will have a chance to make NBA history.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Featured image \u00a9 Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Only 13 teams have overcome a 3-1 series deficit in NBA history, and the Houston Rockets have done it twice so far. If they win Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, they will become the only team in league history to do it three times. The Rockets first completed the comeback in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":137536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,25,31,62],"tags":[409,48],"class_list":["post-137502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-rockets","category-nba","tag-draymond-green","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Kayla Fonte","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137502"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137538,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137502\/revisions\/137538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}