The Houston Rockets were oh-so-close to taking down the juggernaut Golden State Warriors, but horrendous shooting by franchise star James Harden cost them a trip to the finals.
On Monday, Golden State eliminated Houston in Game 7, 101-92. It's a bitter end to an incredible Rockets season, as they boasted the NBA's best record with 65 wins and just 17 losses. Harden and Chris Paul became an electrifying duo, but it just wasn't meant to be.
Though Harden is largely responsible for getting Houston within one game of the NBA Finals, he also chose the worst possible time to miss the big shots. In fact, Harden actually set an embarrassing record with his woeful three-point shooting in the series.
According to Justin Kubatko of StatMuse, Harden set the following records:
Houston went just 7-of-44 from downtown in Game 7, and they managed to miss their final 27 shots from beyond the arc. That's historically awful, and just making a few of those would have sent this franchise to its first NBA Finals since 1995 - when they defeated Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando Magic to win back-to-back championships.
Harden averaged 30.4 points per game in the regular season and shot .367 from three-point range. A career .364 shooter from beyond the arc, Harden shot just .244 in the seven-game series against Golden State. As such, it's not surprising to see Houston fall to the NBA's best team over the past four years.
The absence of Paul - who missed Games 6 and 7 with a hamstring injury - also didn't help. But the Rockets were in control of Game 7 - before getting outscored 58-38 in the second half.
Instead of Harden and Paul vying for their first NBA Championship rings, it'll be Golden State vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals for a fourth straight year. The Rockets will certainly be wondering what could have been, and Harden will be wanting to practice his three pointers a little more this offseason. Otherwise, there will be no dismantling of this Warriors dynasty in the making.
