PHOENIX – The first clue might have been when the Rockets began the game as if they spent the night watching replays of their win in Los Angeles, seeming to lose sight that it was worth as many games as the second half of the back-to-back in Phoenix.
The way things were headed became clearer, even as the Rockets cut a 22-point Suns lead to five, but could not make shots around James Harden when he was trapped.
By the time Eric Gordon left the game after eight minutes with a lower leg injury, with Russell Westbrook already sitting out the second half of the back-to-back, the blowout loss heading the Rockets way was as obvious as it had become unavoidable.