An important piece is an important piece, and that is what he is. The guy held Lebron scoreless in the 4th quarter of game one. That is not a normal thing. So you lose a guy who can effectively guard lebron, with his size and strength.

Plus he is one of their best 3 point shooters in a system that depends on 3 point shooting. Argument can be made that he is the second best player on the team with everything that he brings.

I’m not saying that they would have beaten the lakers in this series, but it would have went 7 or 6 games. From game 3 on, the Rockets were and are a completely different, as well as the lakers.

Lebron went off for 36 points and is just having his way since house has left the team. House wouldn’t have shut him down, but he would have made Lebron work . And that’s the difference.

12 points, 5 boards, 37 pct from 3, and your best defender against lebron. That will be missed.

But a L is a L