Would the 2018 Rockets have choked in the NBA Finals against the Cavs?

[coastalmarker99]

Had James Harden and the Rockets gotten past the Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference Finals.

Do you think they would they have found a way to choke against the Cavs?

As CP3 would have been out for most of the series.

Thus it would have been Harden and a group of defensive role players vs Lebron and a group of offensive role players.


And while the Cavs didn't really have a Harden stopper I would trust the guys on the roster far more against Harden than I would against KD and Curry.

[Indian guy]

I'll still never forget the complete meltdown in LeBron haterville when Houston went up 3-2 in that series :oldlol:. LeBron haters wanted no part of him facing any team in the Finals that wasn't the Greatest Team of All Time.

[Full Court]

Pardon the double negative, but I would never count on Harden to not choke.

[Naero]

I don't see it happening. The 2018 Rockets had too survivable of a margin for error against those Cavaliers, even with CP3's sojourn on the sidelines (his prognosis was to return for Game 3, iirc).

Harden and CP3 struggled shooting-wise against the Warriors (0.538 and 0.522 TS% that series, respectively), yet their teams still tasked the eventual champions to seven games. It's unimaginable that they'd fare much worse against the worst defensive NBA Finals team of the modern era, and it's unlikely they'd lose even if they did.

It took a record-breakingly cold-handed game from downtown for Houston to lose against the Warriors in Game 7—the same team that swept the Cavaliers by historical margins. I know match-up analyses are much more nuanced than that transitive logic, but it's usually that simple when there's such a disparity of outcomes.

Maybe they'd cop a token win off of LeBron's efforts, but they hardly had a fighting chance, if that, of winning it all. They weren't legitimate title-contenders like their 2017 iteration, and that version would make a more interesting hypothetical match-up.

2018 was a top-heavy year for the NBA where the Warriors and Rockets were the only teams realistically capable of beating each other.

[Axe]

Another lebron thread by op :roll:

[GimmeThat]

they would have been butthurt, so it'd still depend on which team was healthier as more possible injury would have occurred.

[Kawhi Not?]

Choking us all harden does bruh

[DMAVS41]

Possibly, but likely what would have happened is what did happen against GSW...Paul would have worn down or had some mystery injury where he played like shit half the games or something.

At full strength and healthy...that Rockets team was historically good though.

[3ba11]

If Harden can get a 3-2 lead on the KD Warriors, why couldn't Lebron beat them in 2017 with Kyrie?

Harden nearly won, while Lebron was beaten by record amount..

It's just further evidence that Lebron underachieves the expectation - he failed to win a weak East with homecourt in 09/10 and then his preseason favorites fell to Finals underdog or loser for 6 straight years (11-16')...

So no one underacheved the expectation more than Lebron's garbage brand of ball - weak brands cause favored talent to underachieve

[DMAVS41]

If Harden can get a 3-2 lead on the KD Warriors, why couldn't Lebron beat them in 2017 with Kyrie?

Harden nearly won, while Lebron was beaten by record amount..

It's just further evidence that Lebron underachieves the expectation - he failed to win a weak East with homecourt in 09/10 and then his preseason favorites fell to Finals underdog or loser for 6 straight years (11-16')...

So no one underacheved the expectation more than Lebron's garbage brand of ball - weak brands cause favored talent to underachieve

There is virtually nothing similar at all between the two teams.

[kawhileonard2]

It wouldnt' had been a sweep maybe like the 2015 finals where Houston won in 6.