Rocket star James Harden has been critical of a few refereeing decisions after his defeat in Game 7 against the Warriors. But he did not use this as an excuse. Meanwhile, coach Mike D’Antoni explained that you can still be proud of what you have achieved.
“We did a lot right, but in the end they scored,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni explained after game 7 at the press conference, alluding to the second half, which the Warriors won 58-38.
But although the whole team is now “very depressed”, “we are proud of our work. Golden State has set the bar very high for the rest of the league, not just for us. But we’re close to them. Now a summer of work is coming to us to make the final step. We’re gonna get even better.”
He also commented on Chris Paul’s retirement: “We knew it would be very difficult without him. But most of all, I feel sorry for him. He’s probably more devastated than any of us. Nevertheless, everyone here in Houston knows that it is incredibly important to have him by our side. He’ll be back.”
James Harden also appeared before the press after the match and said: “We were a halfway point away from success. We didn’t have the energy from the first half. This is frustrating.” Especially, according to Harden, because there were many ways to win the game anyway. “Even a lot of them, even in the fourth quarter. But we didn’t use it.”
Finally, he emphasized that there were “a few whistles” in the referees that were “not right.” Among other things, threesomes were deprived of him because the refs saw the fouls committed on him before the throwing movement. This was very controversial in two cases, mainly because Harden hit the throw in one scene and thus had the chance of a four-point game.
But as an excuse for the defeat, the beard didn’t want to use this fact any more than the injury of Chris Paul. He also congratulated his opponent, who made it into the finals for the fourth time in a row.