{"id":198325,"date":"2026-05-31T11:55:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=198325"},"modified":"2026-05-31T11:55:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:55:25","slug":"rockets-contender-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/31\/rockets-contender-hopes\/","title":{"rendered":"What West Finals Game 7 Means For Rockets’ Contender Hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma City Thunder are no longer the benchmark for NBA contenders. After a back-and-forth seven-game series<\/a>, that honor now passes to the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>. The Houston Rockets’ recent core strategy might be a casualty of this change in the NBA hierarchy. So what does that mean for the Rockets’ contender aspirations?<\/p>\n

New Strategy Needed To Make Rockets Contenders?<\/h2>\n

We might have seen the Rockets’ contender potential this<\/em> season, save for some bad breaks on the injury front. As it turned out, between a broken starting point guard, a broken backup center, and a broken superstar playoff scorer, 2025-26 was never going to be their year.<\/p>\n

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Even so, nearly getting swept<\/a> by a Los Angeles Lakers team missing Luka Doncic<\/a> was a bad way to end the season. Now, with the Spurs leapfrogging the Thunder as leaders in the Western Conference, the goalposts have moved. Obviously, the Thunder are far from obsolete. They had injury misfortune of their own with the absence of Jalen Williams<\/a>. Still, they will probably be motivated to upgrade for 2026-27. And who knows what Spurs neutron star Victor Wembanyama<\/a> might add to his game this offseason?<\/p>\n

Rather than catch up like they need to, it looks like the Rockets will fall further behind. Not to mention that now they’re trying to catch a different team.<\/p>\n