Rockets Win Against Clippers, Headed to Western Conference Finals

The Houston Rockets survived their previous 3-1 standing against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday after they beat their rivals during Game 7 of the second round of the NBA 2015 playoffs, taking them straight to the Western Conference finals.

This is their first time in 18 years to move up to the conference finals, as per Yahoo Sports. This is also reportedly the ninth time in the history of the NBA that a team was able to go past a 3–1 series deficit during a playoff series.

Rockets star James Harden said that winning the series is the "ultimate confidence-booster."

''There's only a handful of teams that's done that. We fought back. We fought three really hard games and came away with it,'' he told Yahoo Sports.

The MVP candidate made 32 points while Dwight Howard had 16 points and 15 rebounds, sealing the win for their team.

Last Thursday, the Rockets were also able to recover from a 19-point deficit during the third quarter to push for a Game 7.

''When you're down 19 on the road, it's easy to give in and just say, 'Maybe next year. But I think the injuries throughout the entire year kind of made us fight through adversity no matter what. We always find a way to fight, and another case was being down 3-1," Harden explained.

The Rockets shooting guard definitely made it happen for his team as ESPN said, "[he] kept it moving."

"He had no choice because there was basketball to play and popping Clippers forward Matt Barnes in the mouth would have meant no good to him or his team," added ESPN.

The Western Conference finals will start on Tuesday night at Golden State's Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

As for the Los Angeles Clippers that almost had the series during the first games, the Los Angeles Times said that coach Doc Rivers told the team that the experience was still worth it.

"Every year I'd give my heart completely to the team, and every year it got completely broken. I told them it was worth it. I told them it's so worth it to buy in and give yourself to a team, and this is part of sports, only one winner. If we didn't win this round or the next, it wouldn't have mattered," Rivers said.

Rivers added that it will always be worth it as long as they give themselves to the team. "It's worth getting your heart broken and taking all the criticism. It should excite you. It does to me. I told them that," he quipped.

Finally, Rivers admitted that he is saddenned because of their loss, but he claimed that he is already thinking about what to do next year in order for the team to get back on track.