Pre-season expectations were low and very reasonable, yet this team far exceeded them. A conference semi-final loss in 6 games can be a proud accomplishment especially in the western conference. However... a loss like this changes everything. That's how damaging tonight was. All rationality and perspective is destroyed. A loss like this changes the narrative from "this team is close, need a few pieces" to "blow it up." Not all losses are created equal and we will see major repercussions going forward despite over exceeding everyone's expectations and achieving the 3rd best record. On the bright side, an illegitimate claim of being close can stagnate a franchise(see Clippers) with nothing to show for it so perhaps we avoided this fate and instead received the cold hard truth. Truth can propel you forward to becoming a legitimate title contender while false hope is just that.
Sadly this blowout along with Harden's performance affects the team's outside perception just as much as last season's Golden state beatdown. Free Agents watched this game. That's got to suck after all of the regular season hard work.
You are absolutely correct and why I said this changes everything. A loss is not a loss. We went from potential contender, a sexy on the rise team to a fraudulent team in disarray just like that. It will be months until we witness all of the fallout from this game that went nuclear. Lose by single digits and as disappointed everyone would be that disappointment would turn to optimism in a few days. Instead the great season is forgotten by everyone and we have months of uncertainty ahead.
Only Rockets fans really give that much of a damn about just one game, along with the haters who want to bring us down. The players, the coach, and FAs are going to see us for what we are. A great team that just wasn't good enough. Need to come back better. We will.
It changes nothing. Come next season, after the first game Harden will score 40 points with one rebound short of a triple double, you all will scream again Harden for MVP and then b****ing about the same craps of media conspiracy. You all are more predictable than a Trump tweet.
