The Houston Rockets will look back on their season as a failure after suffering defeat in the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

Their ultimate aim was to end the Warriors' reign in the west and compete for a championship but they fell short as they were beaten in seven games by the defending champs.

A 101-92 loss in Monday night's Game 7 at the Toyota Center saw them suffer elimination in agonising circumstances.

But having come so far this year, the Rockets are determined to bounce back next season and go one better.

In order to do that, they'll have to keep many of their core roster together to make another run.

The front office will have big decisions to make in the offseason as several of their key players will hit free agency.

Chris Paul will be an unrestricted free agent but is likely to re-sign with Houston having joined from the Los Angeles Clippers last summer.

Clint Capela will be a restricted free agent and there are reports that the Phoenix Suns are looking to lure him with a max contract offer.

The Rockets can match any offer the center receives and keep him on a long-term extension but they would have to go over the luxury tax to do so.

But as two hugely important members of the team, owner Tilman Fertitta has made it a priority to keep them both in Houston.

“Gotta sign Chris [Paul], want to keep Clint [Capela],” he said, according to Lainie Fritz of KPRC Channel 2.

Continuity

Fertitta - who purchased the franchise for an NBA record $2.2 billion in 2017 - is not looking to make wholesale changes to the roster and is determined to keep their winning group intact.

“You don’t mess with success,” he said.

The Texas-based outfit secured the number one seed in the west for the first time in franchise history and won a record 65 games in the regular season.

They fell short against a Warriors team that has won two of the last three championships and will go down as a historically great squad.

There's certainly no disgrace in that for the Rockets, especially after cruelly losing Paul to a hamstring injury when they were up 3-2 in the series and on the brink of the finals.

With largely the same group of players and a few solid additions to the bench, Houston will be primed to come back stronger next year and go toe to toe with the juggernaut from the Bay Area once again.

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