HOUSTON — The Rockets scorched their way to 65 wins this season, a number that’s traditionally hard to top. They earned the right to host Game 7 of these Western Conference finals — the unofficial NBA Finals, to many — in Houston on Monday night.



But the Warriors didn’t exactly put up their best fight to wrestle it back to Oracle Arena. Vegas set their over/under at 67. Many predicted another run at 70-plus. It made sense. Two seasons prior, without Kevin Durant, they touched 73 wins. The season before, Durant’s first, the Warriors nailed 67 despite a bad Durant knee injury sidelining him six weeks.



Things clicked in a 16-1 postseason. Then they brought every relevant player back in July. The integration process was over. All four stars were square in their prime. A stampede was coming.



… But it never arrived. This wasn’t the care-free waltz into the high 60s everyone expected. It turned out to be the...