Rockets’ season on the brink after loss to Warriors

9:47 PM ET

HOUSTON — It was brutal to watch and painful to participate in.

The Houston Rockets’ season is now down to the brink of elimination. Of all the dysfunction surrounding this group on and off the floor, Sunday afternoon’s 121-94 loss to the Golden State Warriors might have been the worst of it all.

Houston now trails the best-of-seven series 3-1, with Game 5 in Oakland on Wednesday night. This was the Rockets’ second-worst home playoff loss in franchise history.

Spare us the inspirational stats about nine teams in league history rallying from 3-1 deficits to win a series. Houston has done it twice: last year, when it came back to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers in the West semifinals, and in 1995, when the Rockets defeated the Phoenix Suns in the West semis.

Guess what? The Rockets are not going to Staples Center for Game 5 to play the Clippers, and Hakeem Olajuwon is not coming out of retirement to recreate what happened in 1995.

This current Rockets team hasn’t shown the ability to respond from a 3-1 hole.

The Rockets sat back and watched Andrew Bogut and the Warriors overwhelm them in the second half. Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images

After playing to a 56-56 tie for 24 minutes, an opportunity to even this series was presented to the Rockets with Stephen Curry in the locker room receiving treatment for a sprained right knee. He walked onto the court just before the start of the second half but was ruled out.

“When the moment calls for us to raise …

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