Houston falls to 12-6 after disappointing offensive performance
Following a 28 point blowout win over the Blazers Friday night, the Houston Rockets took a small step back Saturday, taking a six point loss to Portland to split the two game series. In a game where Houston struggled right out of the gate, it truly felt like catch up from the first quarter on.
Propelled by weak shooting from the field and lackluster rebounding, it wasn’t until the final minutes of the first half and first few minutes of the third quarter where the Rockets showed signs of coming back. Going on an 18-5 run that eventually led to Houston’s largest lead of the night at five, poor shooting once again came back to haunt the team soon after. Allowing a 13-4 run themselves, the five point lead Houston once held was cut down to a two point deficit by the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was the whole story of the game however, with a bunch of back and forth ball, but also each teams best shooting quarter of the night from the field. A skirmish with just under two minutes left leading to a double technical that included Dillon Brooks and Jerami Grant allowed the Rockets to tie up the game from the line, and take the lead the possession after. In what looked like Houston’s best chance to win the game soon turned into disaster afterwards. A clutch time three by Anfernee Simons who had a game high 25 points on 50% shooting handed Portland the momentum, and eventually clinched the win.
A no call missed three pointer by Fred VanVleet with eight seconds left led to a series of events that resulted in FVV getting a technical foul, and ejected moments later, sealing the deal on a Blazers win. A struggling performance from the veteran guard who had just eight points on 4/13 from the floor and 0/6 from three was capped off by a rough ending that he likely wishes to forget. With a potential suspension or hefty fine looming due to his motions and words towards the refs, VanVleet will in one way or another, face consequences for his actions.
On the flip side of things however, Alperen Sengun (22 points) and Amen Thompson (19 points, seven rebounds, 7/11 FG) led the Rockets on the offensive end, helping in their near comeback. But, while those two played exceptionally well, the rest of the team couldn’t really catch up as Houston only shot 35.6% from the field and 25% from three. It was far from the Rockets best night shooting the ball, and at the end of the game was the main cause of a six point loss.
Defensively, it was yet again a very solid night for Ime Udoka’s Rockets as they only allowed 104 points and held Portland to under 40% from the floor. The main issue was guarding the perimeter though, with the Blazers going 18/44 (40.9%) from three, hitting ten more than Houston. Scoring over half of their points from beyond the arc and also winning the rebounding category, Portland did all they needed to get the win on the road over a conference opponent.
The Rockets move to 12-6 on the season after a series split with the Portland Trail Blazers and still only remain a game back from the Warriors for the one seed in the West. Their next game is Tuesday in an NBA Cup matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road at 7:00 CT per usual.