The Houston Rockets hit their first losing streak of the season on Saturday night, as they let the Suns run all over them to start, battled back, but then couldn’t close out the game.
For their last loss against Minnesota, it was a ghost of last season — execution — that was a main culprit. This time, it was shooting. The Rockets couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn, and you have to credit the Phoenix defense. They looked like the fresher team in the fourth quarter, when they shot 11-for-22 from
the field, while the Rockets were only 10-for-27. In fact, for the game, Houston shot just 38 percent from the field, while allowing the Suns to shoot 48 percent. You’re not gonna win many that way.
In fact, the only Rocket player with a semi-decent game was Jabari Smith Jr., who continues to break out this season offensively. Smith went for 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block, though he was just 1-for-4 from deep. Still, Smith was the only Rockets player who could hit some shots outside of Fred VanVleet. FVV went for 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 6-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-9 from deep. VanVleet mostly played a clean game with zero turnovers, however, you want to see greater assist numbers, and with the offense stuck in the mud most of the game, you also want to see a greater impact from a distribution standpoint. But when no one is hitting shots…
Kevin Durant led the Rockets in scoring with 21 points, and he also had 10 boards and 3 assists, but he shot just 5-for-14 for the game, including 1-for-5 in a decisive fourth quarter that the Rockets lost. Alperen Sengun had 15 points, but he was just 5-for-16 from the field. Houston’s bench also shot just 6-for-25 for the game, including a combined 3-for-16 from Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard. Reed played just 13 minutes in this one, and it is increasingly appearing he is the odd man out in the rotation, especially if the three isn’t falling — and it wasn’t on Saturday at just 2-for-6 from deep.
The Suns were led by Devin Booker’s 24 points, while former Rocket Jalen Green had 16 points and 6 assists, and other former Rocket Dillon Brooks had 11 points and 4 boards while hitting 3 triples.
Houston falls to 7-3 on the season, and after a fast start (just like last year), some warts are starting to appear (just like last year), including late-game execution, overall shooting, and rotation management, again many of the same issues as last season. Nevertheless, the team is currently on a 57-win pace, but with the Western Conference wide open this year, you’d like to see the Rockets looking a little tighter.
The team returns to action Monday night at home against the Denver Nuggets.
