The Rockets could not win the easy way. Not the way things had gone. And not with all that was on the line reduced to one moment.
One play. One stop. Everything hanging in the balance. They had to rise to the occasion to do what had to be done in the most difficult way possible.
The Rockets made the play, the unexpected, inexplicable, game-winning play. Thunder guard Lu Dort, who had poured in 30 points, went up for a 3-pointer. James Harden, who could not shoot straight, rose to stop him and blocked the 3.
In keeping with so much of the Rockets’ season and the series, even that was not quite enough. But finally, they could exhale when Oklahoma City’s last-second inbounds pass bounced harmlessly away, the Rockets escaping with a 104-102 Game 7 win to advance to the Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers.
They had won not with an offensive explosion, not with a rout, but with defense and grit.
“These are the games, you want to win a championship or win a playoff game, you got to do it with your heart,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I just thought we demonstrated that the whole time.”
That was the only way they could have gotten past the Thunder. For a moment, there was a chance that would not have been enough.
When Harden swatted Dort’s 3 and then dodge-balled his way to avoid being hit with the rebound Dort fired at his legs, the Rockets had seemed to have secured the win. But with a one-point lead, Robert Covington made 1 of 2 free throws, leaving the Thunder within two with 1.1 seconds remaining.
When the inbounds pass for Steven Adams got away with P.J. Tucker grabbing the Rockets could celebrate with a sigh of relief.
That not only clinched the win, but marked the breakthrough in the Rockets’ search to win the finishing kick moments the Thunder had owned all season, but especially in pushing the series to a seventh game.
They did it with just two field goals in the final 6:50, both from players that had struggled all game.
Harden, who made just 4 of 15 shots and just 1 of 9 3-pointers but would score or set up the final 13 Rockets points, finished a drive with 3:39 left to give the Rockets a 101-100 lead. But with 1:42 remaining, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander regained the Oklahoma City lead.
The Rockets had made 1 of 9 shot when Tucker – who had made 1 of 7 shots – hit a running 10-footer for a one-point Rockets lead.
With that, the Rockets had won with a Harden defensive stand and a mid-range floater.
“That’s the thing about winning games,” D’Antoni said, “there’s so many different ways you can win games.”
Chris Paul, at 35, became the oldest player to get a triple double in a Game 7, missed a jumper. But when Russell Westbrook came up empty on a drive, Dort had a shot for the lead. It never reached the basket, as Harden made the defensive play to make up for all the offensive plays that had gone wrong.
“Like (Nipsey) Hussle say; “Never let a hard time humble us,’” Harden said, quoting his late friend. “Just frustration not to play better than I played offensively. But … tried to make a play on the ball and got the block. It was one of those nights offensively. I wanted to change the game defensively and I think I did that.
“Everything is great when you’re making shots and everything is rolling offensively. I think we found some guts. Our shot-making is going to come. When it comes, it’s going to be scary.”
Harden called the play “one of the top ones” of his career. It was only possible because he got just enough help. Eric Gordon, who had made 19 percent of his 3s in the first six games, made 5 of 9, scored 21 points and helped limit OKC to 1 of 9 shooting in the final four minutes. Covington made 6 of 11 3s. Russell Westbrook drove the Rockets late in the third quarter and at the start of the fourth on his way to 20 points with nine rebounds.
“It’s great, coming from last game the questions asked whether we could close games,” Westbrook said. “We always thought we were a good team. We always thought we could close games.”
When they did and did it by making the plays defensively and just a few tough shots, the Rockets spoke about the toughness needed to survive.
“Right now, it’s not about how good you play; it’s about how hard you play, how engaged you are, about brains and the heart,” D’Antoni said. “Just the will to win is what’s important. It’s a great win for us, for sure.”
Jonathan.Feigen@chron.com
Twitter: @Jonathan_Feigen
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Rockets advance, top Thunder on last-second James Harden block - Houston Chronicle
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