After Monday's Game 4 loss at Golden State the Rockets now trail their best-of-seven, first-round playoff series against the Warriors by a 3-1 margin. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Houston, and the home team's only chance of advancing to the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs is to win three straight games.
So, despite a 52-30 record in the regular season and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, it's becoming highly likely that Houston's postseason run will end in the first round.
What's frustrating for the team is that it didn't have to be this way.