Bloodshot and haunting, James Harden's left eye still could see clearly why the Rockets fell short twice to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals.
"They out-scrapped us," he said Thursday at Toyota Center. "Out of the eight quarters in the series, they've only beaten us in two quarters. The other six was either a tie, or we got the advantage."
The 0-2 hole might seem immense, but the Rockets lost narrowly because of first-half turnovers and poor rebounding.
"Two areas we've been talking about all year long that we can get better at," Harden said.