NBA Hoosiers (Aug. 31): Eric Gordon, Rockets Forced to Game 7

Former Hoosier Eric Gordon and his Houston Rockets are in a must-win situation now after losing Game 6 to Oklahoma City, and Utah's Juwan Morgan is in a Game 7 showdown on Tuesday night.

The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder have been attached at the hip since last summer when they swapped All-Stars Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook. The thought then was that the Thunder would then trade Paul to a contender to jump-start a rebuild.

Instead, they shoot pat and wound up as a No. 5 seed in the NBA's Western Conference playoffs — against the Rockets and former Indiana star Eric Gordon. And they won't go away. Paul was brilliant down the stretch again on Monday night, and the Thunder won Game 6 of their first-round series 104-100.

The Rockets had a six-point lead with four minutes to go, but couldn't hold on. Their big three of James Harden, Westbrook and Gordon struggled down the stretch. The Rockets, who live and die by the three-pointer, died Monday. Harden was just 3-for-11, Gordon was 1-for-6 and Westbrook was 1-for-2. Gordon scored only nine points, but did hit an amazing shot at the buzzer.

Harden was largely invisible down the stretch, attempting just one shot in the final four minutes before a last-second heave. What replaced Harden isolations was Westbrook turnovers and an air-ball from Gordon, who missed a triple. opening the door for Paul to engineer yet another fourth-quarter comeback. 

Houston also had 22 turnovers, "which is too many,'' Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We shoot to have 10, so 22 is way too much. We need to do a better job of handling the ball.''

Game 7 is Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET.

"When it comes down to the last five minutes, they’re the best team in the league at it,"  D'Antoni said postgame. "[Paul] does not miss foul shots and he hits big shots. We’ve got to do a better job before we get in the last five minutes."

"Even with that we still had our chances. We didn’t finish it off."

Monday's other game

• Miami Heat 115, Milwaukee Bucks 104: So you thought that sweep of the Indiana Pacers was a fluke? Think again. The Miami Heat are red-hot, and they have no intent of slowing down, regardless of opponent. Jimmy Butler scored a career playoff high 40 points in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals series. Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo had just 18 points and was just 4-for-12 from the free throw line.

Tuesday's games

• Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics, 5:30 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN): This is Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. Boston leads, 1-0. Former Indiana star OG Anunoby starts at small forward for the Raptors, the defending NBA champions. Rookie Romeo Langford comes off the bench for Boston, though he is dealing with a ligament injury in his right wrist.
• Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets, 8:30 p.m. ET (TV: ABC): This is Game 7 of their thrilling first-round Western Conference series. Former Hoosier Juwan Morgan started the first two games for the Jazz, but has seen fewer minutes since Michael Conley returned to the team after being gone for the birth of his child. Former Hoosier Noah Vonleh is on the Nuggets' roster, but he has only played three minutes thus far in the series.