3 lowest points of the Rockets' season

Based on what the Houston Rockets accomplished the previous two seasons, the 2015-16 campaign was an utter disaster. After barely making the playoffs, some NBA fans were left wishing they didn't, asking themselves if the Utah Jazz may have at least provided more entertaining first-round cannon fodder for the Golden State Warriors.

Of course, Rockets' fans who watched this trainwreck all year knew not to expect much as the playoffs got underway, as this poll by Channel 2 Houston indicated on the eve of the postseason.

Make no mistake, this team will be reconstructed. Dwight Howard is all but finished in Houston, while general manager Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander have the moxie and money to make significant changes.

In the meantime, here are the three worst moments of this season's implosion:

Team fires Kevin McHale after 4-7 start

When a franchise that reached the Conference Finals one season fires their head coach less than 12 games into the next, something's up in the locker room. That was evident from the beginning of the Rockets' season, and it manifested itself on the floor with a complete lack of effort. In the 11 contests that McHale coached this season, the team's point differential was minus-85.

Related: Harden-Howard relationship considered 'cordially bad'

The Rockets averaged 52 wins in McHale's last three full seasons as coach, and the team finally got over the hump that eluded the Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman eras - getting past the first and second round of the playoffs. McHale's interim replacement, J.B. Bickerstaff, didn't get much more out of the team than his predecessor could.

Defense declines

The Rockets' defensive rating dropped from eighth in 2014-15 to 21st this season, per Basketball-Reference. Anyone who has ever played the sport will tell you that a big part of defense is effort, and nowhere was that more evident than with James Harden. A year after getting credit for improving his focus in the area, the 2015 MVP runner-up was back to checking Tinder on D.

Howard kind of says it all

This is how one of the team's franchise players reacted when the other franchise player gave the Rockets the lead, and ultimately its only playoff win, to put the series against the Warriors at 2-1. Yet, as SB Nation's Tom Ziller points out, it's also worth noting the reactions of other veterans like Corey Brewer and Terrence Jones. The only player apparently happy not to be closer to vacation is 21-year-old Clint Capela.

The Rockets lost the next two games by a combined 35 points.