NBA Playoffs: James Harden and Jeremy Lin Call Game 2 A Must Win

Feb 8, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Houston Rockets head coach

talks to guard

(13) and guard

(7) in the fourth quarter during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Both James Harden and Jeremy Lin have classified Game 2 as a “must-win” for the Houston Rockets. At shootaround on Wednesday morning, both players assured the importance of tying the series up at 1:

Harden:

“This is a must-win for us, must-win Game 2. Like I said, we had Game 1 under our belt and we let some silly mistakes in the fourth quarter, late in the fourth quarter, which we don’t usually do, slip away. But we’re confident. We’re ready to go for Game 2. 

We just have to close it off, we were up 11 on our home court with four, five minutes to go in the game. So we gave up an And-1 3 and just little things that we can control. We’re ready to get back on the court tonight.”

Lin:

“To me it’s a must-win, I don’t know, maybe that’s not the term that everybody has been using. But in my mind, we have to win tonight. We have to go up to Portland and get another one.”

The Rockets had plenty of chances to put the Game 1 away, both in the 1st quarter and in overtime. Now, they’re looking to avoid a massive 0-2 hole in the series.

Only 16 teams in playoff history have come back to win a series after trailing 0-2, and just 3 teams have accomplished that feat after dropping the first 2 games at home. The last team to achieve that was the 2005 Dallas Mavericks, who beat the Rockets in 7 games after losing the first 2 games at American Airlines Center.

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