Admit it, the Rockets are no longer a championship contender.

Today's fourth matchup between the Rockets and Spurs was also a showdown between the second and third-ranked teams in the West, but the game process was far from deserving of the term "strong showdown." It was essentially a one-sided domination by the Spurs. Being fellow Texas teams, they really didn't hold back when beating them up.

In the middle of the first quarter, the Spurs led by 10 points. Subsequently, Durant, Sheppard, Finney-Smith, and others led a comeback, with "Electric Fan" rediscovering his long-lost shooting accuracy. However, when the lineup featuring Sengun returned in the second quarter, the Spurs quickly widened the gap again.

The Spurs and Rockets share a common trait of extreme reliance on their core players. When Wembanyama goes off, the Spurs' offense struggles; when Durant goes off, the entire Rockets team seems unable to play basketball. The difference between these two teams is that the Spurs have many other players who can provide a safety net, whereas the Rockets lack sufficient support for Durant.

The Rockets' ultimate problem remains spacing. Whenever Amen and a center are on the court, the Rockets have two players with absolutely no three-point shooting ability. Despite Amen hitting a pull-up three-pointer today, defenses still leave him open, barely paying attention. If you try to drive inside, Wembanyama is waiting there.

Against the Spurs and Wembanyama, three-point shooting capability is crucial. The player matched up with Wembanyama must at least pose a three-point threat to pull him out, thereby opening up both interior and perimeter offense. If Wembanyama can consistently maintain rim-protection threat, it's immensely intimidating for the offensive team.

The Rockets, however, are an extremely poor three-point shooting team. Their average three-point attempts and makes are among the lowest in the league. A large portion of their offense relies on second-chance points and scoring inside. Against such a team, Wembanyama dominates effortlessly.

Because the Rockets lack three-point shooting, Durant faces at least double-teams when he gets the ball, sometimes even triple coverage. Durant was harassed painfully today, with only 12 shot attempts. Amen, however, took 15 shots, as opportunities naturally came to him. Although Amen scored 23 points, it didn't truly hurt the Spurs.

On defense, the Rockets have two natural weak points. In the starting lineup, the Spurs targeted Sengun; in the bench lineup, they targeted Sheppard—always finding a突破口. Thus, the Spurs scored a season-high 145 points today, beating the Rockets by 25 points. Five players scored 19+ points, all firing on all cylinders, even with key Spurs scorer Vassell shooting 0-for-6.

The Spurs' strength recently seems somewhat unrivaled. They went undefeated in February and have only lost one game to the Knicks so far in March, winning 15 of their last 16 games. Considering they also handle the Thunder effectively, they have indeed entered the top tier of championship contenders.

Wembanyama is simply outrageous on the court. Even if you completely disregard his offensive level, his defensive威慑 alone makes him a top-tier center in the league. Today he had 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Those plays where he disrupted Rockets players' shots, causing altered attempts, represent his greatest value.

Due to his presence, Amen couldn't even attempt shots in some situations. Eason fed Wembanyama two blocks under the basket, seeming to be in a daze throughout the game. Sengun lacked even the courage to challenge Wembanyama; only when Kornet came on did they manage a few plays.

Both are All-Star centers of Western Conference strong teams, yet the gap between Wembanyama and Sengun is astonishing. Sengun had a -28 plus-minus today, essentially losing points whenever on the court, while Wembanyama had +27. Previously, Sengun could bully the young Wembanyama. This season, after Wembanyama's super evolution, Sengun has no answer against him; even using elbows to clear paths doesn't work.

This season, the Rockets are clearly drifting further from their championship goal. The earlier loss to the Warriors could be described as an upset, but today's loss to a direct Western Conference competitor was a thorough and utter rout. It's hard to imagine how the Rockets would perform against the Spurs in the playoffs.

Early in the season, the Rockets indeed had a honeymoon period: three-point shooting performed above expectations, Durant's formidable offensive ability, and an夸张 level of offensive rebounding led to a stretch of good performance. However, fundamentally, the Rockets' issues of lacking playmaking and shooting capability remain unresolved.

When Adams suffered a season-ending injury and rebounding ability declined, the Rockets' problems began to gradually surface. At that time, the Rockets still had opportunities to compensate—Eason's trade value was still present then—but the Rockets did nothing at the trade deadline and signed no one in the buyout market, allowing the team's issues to further放大.

Now, even if VanVleet miraculously returns by season's end and successfully loses weight, it wouldn't solve all problems. The offense lacks spacing, the defense has漏洞, and against真正的强队, their flaws are fully exposed.

If these problems must wait until next season to be addressed, remember: next season Durant will be 38 years old.