Rockets Miss the Beat in 131-114 Loss to Jazz
Too Comfortable. Locker Room Leader. Same Old Song.
The return Jae’Sean Tate to the roster wasn’t enough to break Houston’s losing streak on Thursday night, as the Rockets lost to the Utah Jazz, 131-114, at home. This game will be known as the “Lauri Markannen Game” in Rockets basketball history. The Jazz forward exploded for a career-high 49 points, on an efficient 15-for-27 shooting. Markannen also went a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe. Houston had no answer for Utah’s best player on Thursday, as Markannen fell just a point shy of the NBA’s 15th 50-point game this season. Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley added 19 points apiece for the Jazz, who controlled almost the entirety of the game. The Rockets allowed a season-high 131 points, and their defense was essentially non-existent. Houston allowed Utah to become too comfortable on offense, allowing open three after open three, and failing to provide much help-defense. It was the same old song for these Rockets, as they dug themselves another hole that was too steep to escape. Houston started with an 11-7 lead in the first quarter, briefly regained the lead in the third, but this matchup was dominated by Utah, who led by as many as 22 points. The Rockets trailed 110-106 with 5:35 remaining in the contest, but the Jazz outscored Houston 21-8 to end the game, putting away any hopes for a Rocket victory. Markannen outscored Houston by himself, 14-8, in the final five plus minutes of the game. Jalen Green led the Rockets with 30 points, and Kevin Porter Jr. provided 23 points, but the Rockets backcourt struggled once again shooting the ball. Green and KPJ took exactly half of the Houston’s 92 shot attempts, connecting on only 16 of them, for a 35% shooting percentage. It’s simply too high a volume for two players who haven’t been consistent enough shooting the ball this season. A trend that happens way too frequently for this young, developing squad.
The Rockets need to run more of the offense through Alperen Sengun, who had his team-high 10th double-double of the season against the Jazz. Sengun finished with 20 points and 14 boards in 32 minutes of action, proving once again how valuable he is when he receives decent playing time on the court. Sengun is averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds when he plays at least 30 minutes a game this season. Unfortunately, this was only the seventh time Sengen surpassed that mark this season. Stephen Silas needs to start showing more faith in his starting big man. Jabari Smith Jr. played only 20 minutes, as Markannen did most of his early damage on Smith Jr. It wasn’t the rookie’s best defensive showing by any measure. In his return, Jae’Sean Tate scored 11 points in 19 minutes of limited action. Expect Tate’s playing time to increase as the rust wears off from missing more than 30 games in a row. Despite playing less than 20 minutes, it’s already obvious how much Tate helps this roster when he’s on the court. He brings a sorely-needed level of intensity and energy on both ends of the floor. Tate’s ball handling skills also solves Houston’s backup point guard issue. Defensively, he held the red-hot Markannen to 1-4 shooting, despite being much shorter. Tate is the toughest player on the Rockets, and although his return didn’t carry over to the result Houston hoped for, it’s good to see the team’s locker room leader back in action. Stephen Silas even commented in his post-game presser on how much Tate is like a coach on the floor for Houston. Expect the Rockets to be better in the second half of the season, as we have only two games remaining before Houston reaches the halfway mark.
The Rockets are now tied for the NBA’s worst record (10-29) with the Charlotte Hornets. Houston is even one game behind their pace from last season (11-28) at this point. Can the Rockets turn things around soon, or will the squad tighten its grip on the league’s worst record? If Houston is going to have a better second half this season, the Rockets need to improve playing off the ball. The squad is too focused on getting on SportsCenter with an isolation play as opposed to playing team basketball. Their defense has been horrible. Communication on both ends of the court needs to increase, and as a team and individually Houston desperately needs to work harder off the ball. So much more happens than meets the eye when a player doesn’t have the ball in his hands. The team is standing around and not making plays happen when they don’t have the ball individually in their hands. Stephen Silas, as much as he deserves another shot with this young roster, might be coaching for his job if the Rockets don’t show some improvement soon. Besides dropping their sixth straight game, they’ve now lost 11 of their past 12 games overall. It was the same old song on Thursday night, which provided another bad loss in a season full of them for the young squad. The offense needs some sort of system. Too much isolation and no consistency whatsoever is killing Houston’s offense. They rank third-to-last in half-court points-per-possession, a sign of the lack of efficiency in the squad’s offensive sets. Silas needs to change something up with his system, or this may be his last season as the man in charge for the Rockets. Houston still can’t stop whoever catches fire on the opposition, and struggle getting the ball to the man with the hot hand on their own team. The Rockets return to play at home one more time, on Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, before heading on a tough four-game road-trip out west. Hopefully the squad can break the losing streak this weekend, as Sunday will be Houston’s best chance for victory in the next five games.