Landing at the bottom of a 3-1 second-round series hole against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday was bad, but the way the Houston Rockets dove headlong into the pit was worse.
Houston fell 128-95, and nobody on the roster or bench seemed interested in doing something about a game that went from semi-competitive to downright embarrassing in the blink of an eye. That failure raised real questions about the team's foundation and leadership.
That's a weighty concept—one loss indicating a leadership void—but there are lots of ways to lose games, and you can learn a few things about a team by looking at the manner of defeat.