842: 51 Minutes Still Not Enough

During halftime, the Rockets' locker room was dead silent.

Howard panted heavily, staring blankly at the floor. No one knew what he was thinking.

Harden bit down hard on his lip. Despite scoring 16 points in the first half, he did not seem happy in the slightest.

Motiejunas sat expressionlessly in front of his locker, as though contemplating life. He had thought he had become stronger, yet now he felt like nothing more than an ant.

Kevin McHale was equally silent. Under normal circumstances, this game should never have turned out like this.

Randolph was injured, Gasol was in foul trouble, Tobias Harris was exhausted, and Ezeli was unfit for heavy use. The Grizzlies' interior was a complete mess. With the twin towers of Howard and Motiejunas, the Rockets should have shredded Memphis inside.

But what happened? Motiejunas had put up a goose egg in the first half and could not even finish uncontested dunks. Howard started strong but faded away, losing his dominance on both ends as the game went on.

Without Iguodala, the Grizzlies lacked bench depth. Under normal circumstances, Memphis should not have been able to gain an advantage on the perimeter either.

But what happened? Tony Allen had Harden running into walls everywhere, while Vince Carter's deadly accurate threes gave Link tremendous room to attack. In the second half, once Butler was no longer troubled by fouls and saw more playing time, the Rockets would be in even deeper trouble.

McHale had never expected the Rockets to play so passively. This should have been a game they could not possibly lose. Before this, he had been unable to figure out why the Rockets had played so badly.

But on the final possession before halftime, when Link still made the shot despite being trapped by both Ariza