OAKLAND, Calif. — The Houston Rockets missed another layup, and Chris Mullin grimaced. He was wearing a black Golden State Warriors T-shirt as a show of solidarity, but it still bothered him that the Rockets were missing so many easy shots. It seemed to wound his basketball soul.
“Wide-open layups,” Mullin said, shaking his head. “They’re lucky they’re only down 12. It’ll catch up to them in the third quarter.”
Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday was not yet a rout, but Mullin could sense what was coming. He was once one of the N.