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Houston Rockets Show Their Lack of Mental Toughness Against Oklahoma City Thunder

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In a chippy, low-scoring affair between the Houston Rockets and what’s left of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets pulled out a gritty 69-65 win.

In a game in which both teams shot less than 30 percent from the field – for only the second time in NBA history – the Rockets showed their inability to keep their cool when playing sub-par basketball. The Rockets didn’t simply miss 70 percent of their shots — they air-balled, bricked and missed in fantastic fashion, a result of a nasty Oklahoma City crowd and chippy, physical play by the Thunder.

Criticism of the Rockets’ toughness arose during last year’s playoff series versus the Portland Trail Blazers, and many critics cited attitude problems and thin skin as a primary contributor to the Rockets’ defeat. The same lack of mettle and ability to tune out the opposing crowd killed their offense in OKC. Killed might have been an understatement, as well; OKC’s crowd and bully-ball murdered Houston’s shooting, tied it to a cinder block, threw it off of a bridge and let it sink to the bottom of Oklahoma City’s Lightning Creek.

A game in which the Rockets were only able to put up 69 points after averaging 102 points per game raises major red flags about Houston’s ability to persevere under adversity. As soon as their shots stopped falling, the Rockets stopped playing through their offensive system, resorting to isolation-ball, over-dribbling and contested shots. The Rockets definitely hope they won’t lay another egg like this again this season, and it’s safe to say nobody else wants to see another game with the offensive output of tonight’s Oklahoma City affair.

Alex Moss covers the Golden State Warriors for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @Manus_BaldSpot or add him to your network on Google. You can also find his own blog at manusbaldspot.weebly.com.

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