Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from the Western Conference Finals

1. Houston’s poor shooting was too much to overcome

The Rockets were able to defend Golden State well, but they just couldn’t score enough points. Before the series started, no would’ve assumed that an offensive powerhouse like Houston would toss-up brick after brick, especially in Game 7.

Over the course of the entire series, Houston struggled to shoot the ball well. James Harden shot just 41.5 percent from the field and 24.4 percent from 3-point range. Eric Gordon shot 42.3 percent from the floor and Chris Paul made just 40.7 percent of his attempts. Trevor Ariza was ice-cold, shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and he finished 0-for-12 from the field in Game 7.

For the series, the Rockets shot just 42 percent from the floor and 31.4 percent from 3-point range. They even shot just 74.2 percent from the free throw line, which is below average for an NBA team.

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The Rockets played great defense, but they missed too many shots to beat a team that is as talented as Golden State. The Warriors’ defense definitely deserves some credit, but the Rockets missed a lot of layups and wide open 3s throughout the series. If the Rockets’ offense was a bit more efficient, the results of this series could have been different.