Houston’s dreams of winning an NBA championship are over. The Rockets were thoroughly embarrassed by the Spurs on Thursday night, falling 114-75 in a game that was never in doubt for San Antonio. With the win, Gregg Popovich’s squad moves on to face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
The Rockets, meanwhile, are tasked with trying to figure out how Game 6 went so poorly. In addition to the rough final score, the team made only nine twos, shot 32.5 percent from three, and MVP candidate James Harden had one of the worst games of his career – 10 points on 2-for-11 shooting, seven assists, and seven turnovers. This was despite the game taking place in Houston and San Antonio being without the services of Kawhi Leonard.
All that said, you can imagine the takes from the internet were pretty hot. Here are some of the best examples.
https://twitter.com/blanchardJRB/status/862855362864705537
This is my 42nd year at the Chronicle. This might be the worst playoff performance by a Houston team in the city's history.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) May 12, 2017
You can't lay an egg in the Finals again if you never make it back. pic.twitter.com/GD2wl6dukf
— Brád (B.A.) (@flibbradigibbet) May 12, 2017
so long rockets pic.twitter.com/yRlIjGF6UP
— nick (@nick_pants) May 12, 2017
— Ben Rohrbach (@brohrbach) May 12, 2017
The best reactions stemmed from the off night Harden had. It was so bad that he was accused of just not trying.
A text from a league executive: "Has an NBA player ever been investigated for point shaving?"
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 12, 2017
But despite that, plenty of people found humor in his performance.
SHAMEFUL RT @NoHoesTrystan: In an elimination game LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO https://t.co/ZDwz6KNrjJ
— JC (@Jayy3B) May 12, 2017
LAWD. pic.twitter.com/6NgCuYXL1L
— Strictly 4 My X’ers (@Lizzs_Lockeroom) May 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/ASAP_SportsNews/status/862852525053140993
*elimination game*
James Harden: pic.twitter.com/heYWBDXlun
— Bruh Report (@BruhReport) May 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/doylenoir/status/862857086211837952
Some even decided to bring this back to the MVP race that is supposedly between himself and Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook. Even though Houston bounced the Thunder one round earlier, plenty of people made Westbrook-centric jokes after this one.
https://twitter.com/_artistone_/status/862858615740346368
Harden still y'all MVP 🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/tGXT7ce5U6
— Liam Curran (@liamcurran33) May 12, 2017
🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/I5DyucnFxw
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 12, 2017
Grizzlies guard Tony Allen decided to get in on the fun, too.
I love TA so much. pic.twitter.com/SRp48I1POE
— Alexis Morgan (@alexismorgan) May 12, 2017
And of course, on the other coin, there are the Spurs. It cannot be overstated how impressive it is that they walked into Houston and won by 39 points despite the fact that they were without the second-best two-way player on earth.
Spurs by 40 without K LEONARD are you kidding me WOW
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) May 12, 2017
the spurs are like one of those creepy animals that can regenerate body parts when they're amputated
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) May 12, 2017
And also, thank you @spurs because now I can reinstate "The Red Rocket" nickname 🚀
— Matt Bonner (@mattbonner_15) May 12, 2017
Without Leonard, Parker, #Spurs destroy Rockets, 114-75, in one of the most shocking playoff games in the history of either franchise.
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) May 12, 2017
MVP candidate James Harden got outplayed in Game 7 by Jonathon Simmons, who paid $150 to tryout for the Spurs D-League team in 2013. Unreal.
— Jett Beachum (@JetthroTV) May 12, 2017
Now, San Antonio will have a few days to get ready to take on the Warriors in a highly-anticipated Western Conference Finals matchup that has evaded us for years. As for Houston, well, they have an entire offseason to figure out what to do next.
