The Rockets lost again.
The Houston Rockets have lost three games in a row for the first time all season. Playing without starters Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr., Houston led for most the night, but fell apart in the fourth, falling to the New York Knicks 124-118.
The Rockets were up 11 points after the third quarter, but they gave up 46 points to Jalen Brunson and Knicks in the fourth quarter to let the game slip away. Brunson had 42 points to pace all scorers, while the Knicks shot over 50 percent. Tough to win a game without the defense performing up to par.
The Rockets were led by Amen Thompson, who racked up a triple double of 25 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals and a block. He was 9-for-17 from the field. Jalen Green pitched in 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but he was just 1-for-8 from three and couldn’t buy a foul all night, as the he shot just 2-for-2 from the line, though there should have been many more. The Knicks shot 30 free throws to Houston’s 15.
Cam Whitmore also pitched in 18 points off of the bench, while Aaron Holiday had 15, Tari Eason had 12 points and 3 blocks after getting the start, and Dillon Brooks finished with 11.
As for the Knicks, after Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 apiece, and Josh Hart had 19.
The Rockets are now on their longest losing streak of the season and have fallen to third place in the Western Conference behind the Memphis Grizzlies. The Denver Nuggets are now just 1.5 games back of the Rockets as well, and Houston is just four games up on the sixth-place Clippers. They need to get healthy and fast if they hope to get out of this slide.