The Houston Rockets are heading home after a 111-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The loss officially eliminated the Rockets from NBA Cup title contention, setting the stage for the Thunder to meet the Milwaukee Bucks for Tuesday’s championship.

After failing to make the knockout stage a year ago, the Rockets made it a few steps forward this time, beating the Golden State Warriors at home in an elimination game and losing to the Thunder as well. The experience the Rockets are gaining by both winning and losing at crucial times is priceless for the team as they learn how to play with one another in high-pressure situations.

The NBA Cup run the Rockets had is a soft launch back into relevancy within the Western Conference. While the Rockets are only a few games back from the middle of the pack in the standings, they showed why they have been successful at the beginning of the season. In a way, they have now confirmed their identity as a hard-nosed, defensive-minded team.

What this run also revealed is the fact that the Rockets need someone to step up to be an efficient scorer. There’s hope that Jalen Green could become that player, but the Rockets need a bona fide scorer that they simply don’t have right now.

Either someone needs to emerge into that role for the final 50 or so games of the regular season or a trade needs to be made soon to acquire one.

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