Rudy Tomjanovich plotted and prayed and tried to will his team a win until his body ached. The Rockets lost. Tomjanovich hurt. He recognized the feeling.

The Rockets were on loss No. 12 then, an overtime defeat in Indianapolis. There were losses that similarly pained him, others that left him proud, a few that left him almost satisfied at efforts he went so far as to call "heroic" and "courageous." But in Indianapolis that night, he wanted the win until it hurt.