The Rockets lose their 15th consecutive game versus the Warriors with no Curry or Draymond.
Anytime the Houston Rockets head into the third quarter of a game and Steven Adams has been their best player, you can bet they are in trouble. The Rockets had five players in double-figures, but they shot 37.6 percent from the field. Poor shooting is not anything new for this team, but when the poor shooting isn’t being countered with dominance on the boards and defending the paint, well then you get the result the Rockets have gotten in back-to-back games, this time losing to the Golden State Warriors
The Rockets started the game off on the wrong foot when halfway through the first quarter they had five points, and it was an uphill battle most of the way. The bench unit came in and gave a brief boost in energy in the latter half of the quarter, giving the Rockets a 22-18 lead after one quarter, however the Warriors outscored the Rockets by 10 in the second quarter and by one in the third. The Rockets could not buy a basket, and they were outrebounded 54-45, giving up 11 offensive rebounds.
Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet provided much of the little amount of offense that the Rockets could muster in the third quarter, and Alperen Sengun in the fourth, but they could not stop the Warriors from scoring in the paint, something that also plagued them against the Kings on Tuesday.
Jonathan Kuminga was dominant with 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting, including 3-of-6 from the three-point line. The Warriors did shoot an abysmal 66 percent from the free-throw line, but the Rockets could not capitalize. On two different occasions in the fourth the Rockets got within one score, each time the Warriors went on a run bringing the lead back to seven points.
Alperen Sengun finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, eight rebounds, and five assists, but his defense in the paint and on the perimeter left much to be desired, and he was consistently beat on the boards on critical situations. Jalen Green continued his up and down play with another poor offensive performance, shooting 4-of-16 and 0-for-4 from three. The only players who were a positive plus-minus for the Rockets were Steven Adams, Reed Sheppard, and Amen Thompson. Sheppard and Thompson combined to go 3-for-10 from the field.
It was a disappointing showing for the young Rockets who in many ways have shown maturity and improvement this season. However, they were unable to avoid the letdown that can often happen when you are facing a team whose main starters are not playing, especially when it’s the likes of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. This season the team set a goal to not lose these kinds of “let down” games as they acknowledged that these types of losses likely kept them from making the play-in and playoffs.
On a positive note, after 23 games this season this is the first time the Rockets have lost consecutive games. It probably won’t be the last, but the Rockets still have an opportunity to learn and move forward being better. They will take on the Los Angeles Clippers in L.A. in the final game of this West Coast trip, before heading back to Houston for a rematch with the Warriors in the Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinal.
As always, both games will be on Space City Home Network and the NBA Cup quarterfinal will also air on TNT. Rest assured we will be covering the game right here on TDS. You can watch the game along with you fellow Dream Shakers on Playback, which you’ll always be able to find in the TDS Game Thread.