The Rockets have won 8 games in row and for most of Thursday’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers it looked as if they would coast to their 52nd win of the season. However, even if you have just followed this Rockets team causally, you were not comfortable even with the Rockets leading 96-73 going into the fourth quarter.
The Rockets only made 5-of-20 shots in the final quarter of the game, while the Sixers scored 29 points in the quarter. The key for the Rockets was the timeliness of the shots made.
With about four minutes to go in the game, Philly had cut the lead to 101-94, leading to a timeout immediately being called by Ime Udoka. The Rockets would get back-to-back corner threes, first from Kevin Durant off of an Aaron Holiday drive to the basket, followed by an Aaron Holiday corner three off of a Kevin Durant assist.
The Sixers would cut the lead back down to five points with less than two minutes to go, when Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun ran the pick-and-roll at the top of the key to perfection, which lead to the defense collapsing on Alpi, leaving Durant wide open for the three-pointer that would give KD his 29th point and seal the deal for the Rockets with just over a minute remaining in the game.
Alperen Sengun struggled scoring the ball with only 8 points on 4-of-14 shooting, but he did grab 12 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson each posted 19 points and 5 rebounds respectively. Tari Eason shined off the bench despite playing with an illness. He scored an efficient 15 points 0n 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds. He was 3-of-6 from the three-point arc. Aaron Holiday was 3-of-5 in the 14 minutes he played, scoring what turned out to be 7 crucial points.
Rockets fans have been wanting to see team they have been watching over this 8-game win streak; all season. This fourth quarter aside, they seem to be clicking at the right time. There are still some weaknesses that opposing teams will definitely try to exploit in the postseason. However, the things they have done well are sustainable. They must continue to move the ball and protect the ball. Turning the ball over the way they did in the fourth quarter of this game, will lead to losses in the playoffs. Tonight, when they were able to handle the desperation pressure the Sixers, they ended up finding good looks at the basket and they knocked them down. That will need to be the rule and not the exception moving forward.
The Hometown Heroes are back at it tomorrow night at 8:00 PM CST against another playoff contender, the Minnesota Timberwolves, at Toyota Center. As always, we will be here with Game Previews, in-game discussion, and recap after.
