Daryl Morey took responsibility for the Houston Rockets' disappointing season that ended in a five-game series loss to the Golden State Warriors as the eighth seed.

"This is on me," he said. "A lot of the guys we brought in didn't work out. That's on me. We're going to do better. We're going to get back to Rockets basketball. We're going to get back to winning."

Morey disputed the notion that he does not value chemistry.

"I think it's hugely important," Morey said. "I don't remember articles about how our chemistry was great last year. I don't remember articles last year that said how great our guys were together. That's a label people throw on a team when it's not going well. The reality is we didn't have enough guys playing together and playing well. Last year, we had a lot of guys playing well and playing together. It's the same group of guys. They had good chemistry. They just didn't play well.

"It's the convenient thing to say the chemistry is bad. We lost games. Everybody is trying to figure out why we lost games. The reality is our defense was a lot worse. That was guys not playing as well as we needed them to play."

Daryl Morey defended the Houston Rockets' season from criticism and also accused other teams of planting or influencing stories about the team.

Morey believes the stories are a free agent ploy.

"It's been disappointing - and obviously we're all disappointed - that people are painting the season we just had and trying to make it into a larger thing than it is, which is one season that was disappointing in a sea of a lots of seasons that were successful," Morey said. "Not as successful as we want, but for sure not the entire negative environment that people are trying to paint.

"It's smart for other teams to try to paint us in a negative way. It's a very competitive free-agent situation. All the articles you see out there are other teams I think very smartly trying to paint our situation as negative. Being kicked while you're down is a smart situation by teams leaking things, trying to put stuff out there to make us look bad."

There were stories about players not wanting to play with James Harden.

"I think that's very smart, strategic positioning," Morey said. "I had to address that last year when a certain owner was painting our team in a bad light. This year is no different. I think it's very smart that other teams are trying to paint our players in a bad light. … James Harden, I don't know who wouldn't want to play with him. A top-five player in the league, unbelievable passer, unbelievable scorer. … Everything we hear is that people only want to play with him."

The NBA says referees should have called a foul on James Harden before his game-winning shot.

It was among five incorrect calls in the last two minutes, the NBA said in its assessment of officials' crunch-time performance dubbed the "Last Two Minute Report."

On the replay from Thursday night's game, it appeared Harden pushed off Golden State's Andre Iguodala before converting the 10-foot step back jumper with 2.7 seconds to play.

Ian Clark's layup had put Golden State up by one with 10.6 seconds left after Shaun Livingston stole a pass from Trevor Ariza on the other end.

Jeff Van Gundy and Scott Brooks remain the top candidates for the Houston Rockets' head coaching vacancy.

The Rockets are optimistic Brooks will wait for the end of their season despite the strong interest he's received from the Washington Wizards.

J.B. Bickerstaff is currently interim head coach of the Rockets and isn't expected to return.

Van Gundy was head coach of the Rockets until 2007 and he's since been in broadcasting.

Les Alexander gave Daryl Morey a public display of support in response to a recent report that the Houston Rockets would undergo a "comprehensive evaluation" after the season.

The Rockets reached the playoffs despite having an underachieving regular season.

"There is no uncertainty," said Alexander. "Daryl is with the team. We evaluate everybody, but right now things aren't changing."

Morey has been general manager of the Rockets since 2007.

The Houston Rockets will consider bringing back J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach next season.

The Rockets also have strong interest in Tom Thibodeau and Scott Brooks.

Thibodeau could give the Rockets a needed structure and discipline, while Brooks previously worked with James Harden during their time together with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Rockets were in the Western Conference Finals a year ago and struggled for much of the season. Kevin McHale was fired in November and Bickerstaff became interim head coach.

Daryl Morey and J.B. Bickerstaff will be subjected to a comprehensive evaluation by the Houston Rockets this offseason.

The Rockets reached the Western Conference Finals in 2015 but had a disastrous 15-16 season.

Morey's contract runs through the 17-18 season.

Dwight Howard will be a free agent and is widely expected to sign elsewhere with the Rockets rebuilding around James Harden.

"You're asking the wrong guy about that," Morey told ESPN in a recent interview when asked about his job security. "That's Mr. Alexander's choice and all I do is my job every day. He makes that call."

Chandler Parsons has remained close to Dwight Howard after nearly two years of no longer being teammates.

Howard will be a free agent this offseason and the Dallas Mavericks are expected to pursue him.

"We have ongoing talks and text messages still to this day. He's one of my good friends. It's cool that we could have the opportunity to go into free agency this summer together," said Parsons.

"I've expressed how I think he can be one of the dominant players in this league. I think he still has a lot left in the tank. He gets criticized a lot for whatever reason, but I still think he can be one of the best big men in the league and a game-changer. He's not that old [Howard is 30]. He still has a lot left in the tank."

Parsons became close to DeAndre Jordan during the Mavericks' courtship of him last offseason, but they have since drifted apart.

"Pretty nonexistent, honestly," said Parsons "Me and DJ obviously got super close during that time. It's kind of in the past now for both of us. He's made his decision and has had a decent year in L.A., so I'm happy for him. They're a team that's a contender this year. I've said many times I'm over it. He didn't do anything illegal.

I still think he would have been a much better player individually here in Dallas. You never know what's going to happen in the upcoming years. He's a good dude at heart.