NBA Teams with Diminished Second Round Playoff Losses
After being eliminated in second round losses, these NBA teams enter the off-season with dashed hopes and decide how to deal with team issues. With the upcoming NBA draft picks, how will these teams respond to get beyond their payoff losses and reach the next level of competition.
The Wizards and the Rockets have shown their talent and ability to win during the regular season but they could not prove their worth in second round losses.
After starting 2-8, the Washington Wizards went 47-25 the rest of the way and earned the fourth seed. John Wall played at a superstar level and Bradley Beal developed in to new star with much potential. They had problems on defense but they scored in bunches, and the starting lineup of Wall-Beal-Porter-Morris-Gortat was an offensive display pushing the limit. They beat a decent Atlanta Hawks team in six games in Round 1 with home-court advantage.Their round two opponent was the Boston Celtics which was their biggest test.
The Wizards started off Game 1 on a 16-0 run as Wall and Beal combined for 47 points. Porter and Gortat scored double-doubles, but the game fell apart in the third quarter due to the Wizards’ weak and awful bench support — an obvious need for improvement next season. The Wizards added scoring on the bench but got porous defense which wore down their offense to keep matching buckets with their opponent. The Celtics put the Wizards away down the stretch. But it came down to the Celtic bench backups scoring 48 points and the Wizards backups scoring just 5 points.
The Wizards have assembled a great starting five, which is the hardest part of putting together a team. They’ll have to max out Otto Porter this summer, and they’ve got high hopes they can get a little more out of Mahinmi next year. Beal and Porter will be 24, and Wall still only 27 when the season starts, so this should only be the beginning for the Wizards. But if they can get literally anyone else who can play defense or hit an outside shot, they have an excellent chance of losing to LeBron James in the conference finals next season.
Houston Rockets
Two years ago, the Rockets it to the conference finals. Last year, Kevin McHale got fired, and Dwight Howard was a locker room cancer that spread. Harden and Howard could not play together and Howard got traded. Harden got a raise and a contract extension. Mike D’Antoni was hired to coach and he made Harden his point guard.
The result was an MVP season for Harden, a great offense for Houston and a 14-game improvement.
After beating the Thunder in round 1, round 2 was a real test against the Spurs. In game one at the Spurs court, their three-point shooting was a constant barrage, making 22 out of 50 attempts. The Spurs looked old and were unable to compete with Houston’s run-and-gun attack. However, it was just one game as the Spurs adjusted and won the series in 6 games.
While D’Antoni was shortening his bench, Coach Pop was expanding his. The Spurs got contributions from Dejounte Murray and Jonathan Simmons, who stepped in to guard Harden. Kyle Anderson played 20 solid minutes. For his part, Harden played like a worn out shoe and he wouldn’t shoot. A total wipe-out as the Rockets were embarrassed and lost by 39. The Rockets up tempo offense depleted their energy and it showed their achilles heal.
