Schedule, Exhaustion and Defensive Disarray To Blame In Latest Loss

The exhausted Rockets lost by a single point to Washington - Troy Taormina-USA TODAY SportsHouston's fifth game in seven nights came after disastrous losses to San Antonio and OKC. Even James Harden's heroics couldn't overcome that reality.

The referees were not to blame. Yes, I said it.

Any sequence in Saturday night's loss to the Washington Wizards could have gone differently. Dwight Howard's ejection, James Harden's last drive or Josh Smith's put back a different outcome to any event could have resulted in a Rockets win instead of a 123 - 122 loss.

James Harden's 40 points were heroic, but the Houston defense failed the team once again. ESPN's Calvin Watkins reported the Rockets allowed…