Free Throw Shooting Has Cost the Rockets All Season and Again in Game 4

The Houston Rockets knew coming into the playoffs that their first-round series with the Golden State Warriors would come down to a few possessions each game. Even though the Rockets were the second seed and the Warriors were the seventh seed, the two teams were not that far apart. However, there was one area where we saw a slight difference: free-throw shooting.

The Rockets were only four games better than the Warriors in the standings, and Golden State came into the best-of-seven series with most of the experience. When it comes to the playoffs, every possession is important, and most playoff games come down to the last few minutes of the game.

Three of the first four games have been decided in the last few minutes, with Game 2 being the only one decided early in the fourth quarter. To no one's surprise, the Warriors have won all three close games, which come down to one or two plays in each of those wins.

Monday night's contest followed the same script as most of the series. Each team went on runs and thought they had control of the game, but the outcome wasn't decided until the last couple of possessions.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, the result was the same as for three out of the four games: a Warriors win. The Rockets fell to the Warriors 109-106 and are on the brink of elimination. There were several reasons why the Rockets lost Game 4.

Jalen Green had yet another single-digit scoring game and struggled to get anything going on offense. It was so much so that Ime Udoka benched Green for most of the fourth quarter, including crunch time. Also, the Rockets had another long stretch where they couldn't make a basket.

Coming out of halftime, the Rockets had momentum after going on a run to end the first half. The Rockets went scoreless for the first three to four minutes of the third quarter, and the Warriors went on a 13-0 run to start the second half.

The Rockets lost the game mainly because of their poor free-throw shooting. They have struggled all season. In the year they were last in free-throw shooting, somehow, they have been worse in the playoffs.

The Rockets are shooting only 63.2 percent from the free-throw line in the playoffs, which is last by a wide margin. The Rockets have missed 35 free throws through four games after going 19-31 in their Game 4 loss. The Warriors shot nine fewer free throws but still had more made free throws. The Warriors mainly Jimmy Butler did what they needed to do from the free throw line. Butler made all 12 of his shots from the charity line.

In fact, the Rockets are on pace to have one of the worst free-throw shooting series as a team in NBA history. The Rockets have, at times, shown they are the better overall team, but the playoffs aren't always decided by who has the most talent. Sometimes, it comes down to something as simple as making a free throw.