Rockets’ Morey Congratulates Warriors: ‘You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss’

Eric Gay/Associated Press

When the Golden State Warriors eliminated the Houston Rockets from the playoffs Friday, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey took to Twitter to congratulate the defending champs.

Turns out “congratulations to the Warriors” is one of Morey’s favorite Twitter phrases.

A Twitter user ingeniously retweeted some of Morey’s past tips of the cap to Golden State:

Golden State has eliminated Houston four of the past five postseasons. Their “rivalry” has been among the most one-sided in recent sports history, with the Rockets trying and failing to unseat Steph Curry and Co. in various iterations.

Houston’s most recent elimination is arguably its most frustrating. The Rockets were given a massive break when Kevin Durant suffered a calf strain in the third quarter of Game 5 and failed to take advantage. Houston allowed the Warriors to outscore them by five points in the fourth quarter of Game 5, blowing a chance to take a 3-2 series lead. Then, in Friday’s Game 6, the Rockets failed to capitalize on Durant’s absence and a scoreless first half from Stephen Curry, coughing up a fourth-quarter lead at home as Curry dropped 23 points in the final 12 minutes.

Much like Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, the Rockets came at the king and missed. Then missed again. And again. And again.