The Rockets, as perhaps an oracular punishment for blowing a lead against the Spurs the night before, and getting embarrassingly run off the court to close that game, were sent out on the road to Atlanta the very next night. There was little doubt that the Rockets would in fact play this game, but considerable doubt as to the out come. The first of several doubts to plague the contest.
The game started, so it was clear the Rockets couldn’t avoid the back-to-back, somehow. Soon after one of the worst
opening tip offs ever, there was serious doubt that the first half of this contest met the criteria for an actual NBA game, played by professionals. There were possibly extenuating circumstances.
The Hawks were injured. Broken wings, cracked beaks, patchy feathers, you name it. They were missing starting center Onyeka Okongwu, starting forward Jalen Johnson, high draft pick Zacharie Risachertorte, usually injured or ill player Kristaps Pozingis, and former Rocket, N’Faly Dante.
The Rockets were of course missing Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams and also, because it was the second night of a back to back, Tari Eason and Dorian Finney-Smith.
That said, the Hawks had won four games in a row, due largely to strong play from Jalen Johnson, Dyson “Sphere” Daniels, and CJ McCollum. MCollum has been essentially a less fraught one for one replacement for Trae Young, except the Hawks don’t feel compelled to start him. His shooting is better, his passing a bit worse, and his defense roughly the same as Trae’s. Even down so many players, the Hawks still used McCollum as a bench scoring ace, perhaps they wanted to counter the Rockets size? Atlanta started (Zag Alert!) Corey Kispert and his 80s music video hair and headband, Christian Koloko, Vit Kejci, and Nikeil Alexander-Walker along with the aforementioned Dyson Sphere.
The Rockets largely rolled out their regulars, with Josh Okogie starting in place of Tari Eason, who isn’t really helping his reliability case at all this season.
The first half was one to forget. Or one to cherish if you love bad, listless, basketball, and seemingly never ending parade of clanks. To describe the first half as a rock fight denigrates the dignity and accuracy of a thrown rock. The first quarter was “A Low Scoring Affair” as the commentators say, with both teams getting 23 points officially recorded, someone. But don’t worry, it would get worse. The second quarter would see the Hawks failing to break 20 points at 19, but the Rockets accomplishing that feat in the mildest flurry of scoring possibly ever in the NBA, to close the half.
It was anyone’s game at 43-42 at the half, as the grim truth dawned on all those Rockets fans watching, that the Hawks, who seemed barely present, including actual game participants, might well beat the Rockets anyhow. Hovering above those Rockets fans was also doubt that the second half would be worth watching. These doubts were ultimately unfounded.
The Rockets came out in the second half, and by mid to late third quarter seemed to be establishing a lead on the Hawks. A few consecutive made threes brought Atlanta close again, but the Rockets didn’t call a timeout, and mean mugged the lead back into existence. Well, actually they did things on offense that looked pretty good, and made shots. They grabbed all the rebounds. The Rockets ultimately scored 34 points to the Hawks 24, which was the most they’d manage in any quarter.
The fourth quarter was similar, but featured the Rockets coasting to victory, in their own unique way. That way consisting of playing the starters until around 2 minutes remained, despite a steady 19 point lead.
The score looks easy, and the Hawks genuinely quit sometime in the third quarter. By the fourth they were barely running around anywhere, unless there might be a chance for an easy basket. Otherwise Atlanta looked like it was ready to hit the bottle, or Magic City for, ah, lemon pepper chicken wings, I suppose.
Kevin Durant remains a terminator, scoring 31 points on 12-22 shooting, and playing a low, low, 34 minutes. Jabari Smith almost had a get-right game, but did throw down a thunderous dunk in the 4th quarter for his Atlanta family and friends. Amen Thompson had a forgettable game, after his strenuous night in Houston on Wednesday. It was so forgettable I forget the stats, ok, he did have 3 steals and 2 blocks. Alperen Sengun, who looks hurt, exhausted, sick or all three had a straight bad outing. He did grab 10 rebounds. With Adams out, and Udoka distrustful of or unconvinced by Clint Capela, and Jabari at center, it seems Alpie is just going to have to go out and be bad. Rather than maybe resting and getting well.
Josh Okogie had quite a good night, grabbing 10 rebounds, and making his open looks, and generally played with high energy, intensity and great individual defense. The Rockets got a strong 18 minutes from Clint Capela, and it was a lineup with both Clint and Reed Sheppard that fueled their lead, and pulling away from the Hawks. He went 10pts/7rbs/2ast/1stl/2blk in 18 minutes, and it seemed to me he might well double those numbers in double the minutes. But Ime once again failed to consult with me, or TDS.
Tate played an impactful and useful 20 minutes without a great number of stats to show for it. Sheppard continued his pattern of bad first half, great second half. He had 13pts/4rbs/4ast/1stl in 26 minutes, and really did turn the tide. Two legitimate perimeter scoring threats on the court at the same time for the Rockets (Jabari and Tari don’t count, for various reasons) really changes the entire geometery of the offense for the Rockets. Reed went 5-14 which isn’t efficient at all, but 3-7 from three, which very much is. He seems to be overthinking everything, still, and probably should be fed a great deal more three point opportunities. He’s developing a nice chemistry with Capela, and still has a clunky one with Durant.
Any win on a SEGABA is a good one, and any game holding NBA players to only 86 points is a good one, too.
The Rockets play on Saturday back home in Houston against the Mavericks, in a prime time ABC game. I hadn’t realized the Rockets were allowed to play Dallas in Houston, but the schedule indicates they are.
