Grant Williams nailed a three-pointer in the last minute to complete the comeback and put the Hornets ahead for good.
What was shaping into an encouraging season opening victory over the Charlotte Hornets gradually devolved into a disaster class for the Houston Rockets as they blew an 18-point lead en route to a 110-105 defeat Wednesday night. The Rockets were grooving to a lopsided victory in the first half before the shorthanded, yet resilient, Hornets kept chipping away at the double-digit lead to notch their first-year head coach, Charles Lee, his first W.
For Houston, this is a disappointing result given the obvious. The crux of this game can be pointed towards the battle on the boards as Houston got off to a hot start with Alperen Sengun (25 points, 18 rebounds, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) collecting 11 of his rebounds in the first quarter alone. Charlotte’s starting center, Mark Williams, missed the opener due to injury, and Sengun made them pay early as the Hornets couldn’t keep him off the glass.
However, the final box score reveals that the Hornets actually out-rebounded the Rockets 56-43 tonight as Charlotte unleashed an onslaught on the boards in the second half, most importantly during the minutes Sengun rested.
Another arrow towards Houston’s woes can be directly correlated to the up and down performances from the starting backcourt of Jalen Green (28 points on 9-23 FG and 5-15 3PT) and Fred VanVleet (14 points on 4-18 FG and 2-11 3PT). Green started relatively hot from the field, connecting on three of his first four three-point attempts, but he closed out the second quarter in rough fashion bricking four straight attempts.
It was a struggle for most of the remainder of the game until he and VanVleet nailed some jumpers late in the game. Unfortunately for the Rockets, those rough stretches really took a toll on the flow of the game as Charlotte was able to gain ground following Houston’s brick fest.
Already without Williams and a presumed fifth starter in Josh Green, Charlotte was also without the talented Brandon Miller during the second half as he dealt with a hip injury. Somehow, someway, the Hornets managed to get by as they leaned on LaMelo Ball (34 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds) and got a spark off the bench from Tre Mann (24 points and 6 rebounds). Ball looked particularly good late in the game as he made some heads up plays to capitalize off the Rockets lack of focus.
In circling back to the rebounding point from earlier, the Hornets were able to secure multiple second chance opportunities late in the fourth quarter as Sengun was stuck on the bench or subbed out for defensive purposes. It was a stark contrast to earlier in the game when he made them pay for being the smaller team on the court. One of those gaffes resulted in Grant Williams getting an open look from deep, which ultimately sealed the fate of this game.
Casting aside the negatives that come from this loss, there were plenty of good observations to take away from this game.
Although he had the worst plus/minus on the court at -19, Amen Thompson (13 points and 4 rebounds) looked like he’s a player ready to take a big leap on this team this season. There were still a few times that he turned away open threes, but the one that he did take and make in the corner looked encouraging.
Sengun also looked less hesitant to take the long-range shots as he went 2-3 from three-point land. Jabari Smith Jr. (8 points and 5 rebounds) didn’t have the strongest of showings, but he looked more comfortable dribbling up court, and he even stepped into a few on the break that I’m interested in monitoring. Reed Sheppard (4 points and 3 assists in 16 minutes) didn’t have the most spectacular debut, but rest assured, he looked capable of manning the second unit as he gains more experience.
Ime Udoka appears committed to relying upon the “core” as the bench unit consisted of Thompson, Sheppard, Cam Whitmore and Tari Eason. Jock Landale was the back up big as Steven Adams sat out tonight.
Overall, this was another annoying loss, even though the season literally just began, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel if the team can keep focus for all 48 minutes. Sengun and Green looked really good at their best tonight, as the former imposed his will inside, and the latter flashed high-end shot making. However, we’ll desperately need them to cut down on the silly turnovers and gunner mentality that bled through in this game if we want them to self-actualize into their full potential.
One down, 81 to go.