The Houston Rockets were struggling on the road and on the second night of a back-to-back, but they went into Detroit and beat one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference anyway, downing the Pistons
111-104 behind a total team effort.
Kevin Durant once again led the way, scoring 32 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including 5-for-11 from deep. He also pitched in 7 boards. 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. He also played pretty good defense all night, and the middie game was working.
Alperen Sengun had 19 points and 5 assists on 6-for-11 shooting. He had a lovely poster dunk, but he also doesn’t look completely healthy, which he has been open about. Reed Sheppard had 18 off of the bench, and though his three-ball wasn’t there, going just 1-for-7, he contributed down the stretch, hitting Cade Cunningham with a nasty hesi to take him to the cup for a bucket.
He also played 25 minutes, and Ime Udoka must finally be listening to us, as Reed closed the game and was an essential component of the victory.
Amen Thompson pitched in 15 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and a block, while Jabari Smith Jr. had 11 points, 10 boards, 2 steals and a block and played the Dillon Brooks role by picking fights and being the emotional backbone on the court. He was also 5-for-9 shooting, the kind of side role we need to see from Jabari every night. Again, the man is just 22, one of the youngest on the team. High-end role player is still the ceiling with some more consistency.
Clint Capela had 5 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks as the backup center, and these type of performances will be needed to weather the storm with Steven Adams potentially out all year now.
This was one of the best team wins we’ve seen in a while, and especially with Houston’s road struggles, it meant much more. The Rockets move to 27-16 and are on roughly a 52-win pace, the same as last season. They currently sit in the four-seed and will be back in action Monday versus the Memphis Grizzlies.
Hope you’re all staying warm out there. Here in Pennsylvania, it’s current -7 degrees outside, and we’re waiting on a storm later today that’s dropping 12-16 inches of snow. A total of 45 states are currently under weather emergencies this weekend. Wherever you are, we hope you’re staying safe.
