“…banged up spiritually” (W’s 86?, Rockets 107)

I’d been looking forward to covering last night’s game.

Had been. (Past-perfect.)

In advance (say, a couple weeks ago) the game looked like it could’ve been an intriguing litmus test…about the Rockets’ psyche.

How far had they fallen?

(And not just in terms of losing a couple role players, but also in terms of having their spirit broken by obsessing so hard in chasing the W’s and falling short anyway.)

And/or would there be signs of the Rockets dusting themselves off and potentially (more gradually this time) being able to rebuild themselves into a near-the-top-of-the-pack threat again?

“It’s a long season.”

But last night’s game, I thought, taught us nearly next to nothing (either way).

But that…