Potential last laugh on table for Spurs after Rockets’ embarrassing loss

The Spurs and the Rockets don't like each other. We all know this. The rivalry goes back decades, but it had been somewhat dormant as neither franchise was in a position to do much bragging about anything. Missing the playoffs and sitting at the bottom of the conference doesn't really inspire the confidence needed to do any trash-talking to anybody.

Thankfully, new life was injected into the rivalry when the night of the draft lottery that led to San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama addition. Rivalries are fun. Nothing is better than dominating a team you hate, and nothing is more satisfying than watching them collapse. The latter is happening to the Rockets, and all of Spurs Nation gets to sit back and watch it happen with glee.

Rockets are on verge of an embarrassing first-round exit

When Houston hired Ime Udoka to coach their team last offseason, I wasn't the happiest person in the world. He had just led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals two seasons prior, and if you watched that team play, it was obvious that Udoka was a special coach. He knows how to get a lot out of his team, and he's a strong leader his players follow.

It wasn't surprising to see them challenge for the play-in last season, but I wasn't expecting them to reach the number two seed in Ime's second year. But the regular season and the playoffs are a different animal, and the Rockets are being humbled by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

It's not inherently bad to get beaten in the playoffs by the Chef. He's one of the greatest players of all time. It is, however, embarrassing to lose to the Warriors when Jimmy Butler has been compromised. Butler didn't play in game three of the Golden State/Houston series, giving the Rockets a huge advantage they should have used to snowball the series. They are playing the seventh seed, for God's sake.

To their dismay, they were unable to capitalize on the lack of star power the Warriors rolled out last game, probably due to a lack of their own stars. That's how you know Udoka is doing an excellent coaching job—that team doesn't have any player you'd call a star. They just play harder than everyone else and work together as a team. Sure, Sengun is a good player, but he's nobody to be afraid of.

Jimmy Butler was injured in game two, and maybe that's why Houston won that night. They haven't really shown themselves to be a better ballclub than the Warriors; otherwise, they wouldn't be down 2-1, despite Steph having to carry the team's offensive game on his back.

Since they failed to land Wembanyama two summers ago, Rockets fans have pretended like they're future is set up better than San Antonio's. They've bragged about how fast they've accelerated their rebuild compared to the Silver and Black's. But time is running out for them to capitalize on that progression with something significant.

If they were to lose this series, it would be one of the most embarrassing playoff losses in the last decade. Fred VanVleet's place as their starting point guard makes this even sweeter. Spurs fans will remember the disrespect he showed Coach Pop after winning a championship in Toronto with Kawhi Leonard. He doesn't deserve nice things, and neither does Houston.