By 2012, the Houston Rockets had become a virtually irrelevant franchise. Usually, when they made the playoffs, they would lose to the Utah Jazz, but that ended when Carlos Boozer left for Chicago. Things would be tough for Houston, in terms of consistency.
The NBA’s newest team, meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder, were fresh off a Finals run. Their core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden seemed built to last. But, James Harden was a buzzing star who would eventually want out.
James Harden wound up traded to the Rockets, slowly bringing the team back to relevance. The first two seasons were first round exits, at the hands of OKC and Portland, before their first of many losses to the Golden State Warriors, which is how this season ended, in the second round. Not only do they have two consecutive painful losses to the Warriors, but the Rockets got suspended on Twitter.
