Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from the Western Conference Finals

3. The Rockets have more grit than they were given credit for

When the word “grit” is mentioned in a basketball context, you immediately think about guys like Marcus Smart or Patrick Beverley, or teams like the Memphis Grizzlies in past years. Having grit is about displaying a certain degree of toughness and resolve. In the final quarter of a close, low scoring game, the team with the most resilience often comes away with a win.

Throughout the regular season, most people probably wouldn’t consider the Rockets to be a very gritty team. Houston has built up a reputation over the last few years of a team that cares all about offense and not much about defense. But the Rockets showed just how much grit they had against the Warriors.

After every tough loss, the Rockets responded with the necessary adjustments and carried out the new game plan successfully. In Game 4, the Rockets came back from a 12 point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the game 95-92.

P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela and Chris Paul give Houston some of the much-needed grit that they’ve been missing over the past several seasons. The Rockets dived after loose balls, sprinted to contest 3-point looks and they played extremely hard the whole series. The Rockets showed that they had just as much grit as any team in the NBA.

Next: No. 2