Rockets Lose Steam Late in 124-119 OT Loss to Bulls
Too Much Airspace. No Player Does Whitmore. Silver Linings.
After a scoreless first half, Alperen Sengun scored an impressive 25 points after halftime. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, as Houston lost another heartbreaker. The Rockets fell to the Bulls in overtime, 124-119, on Wednesday night. Sengun scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and OT combined, as he had arguably his best and worst halves of the season in the same game. Houston trailed by 11 points entering the final period, and faced a 16-point deficit with a little under 9 minutes to play in the contest. The Rockets rallied to tie the game, and Jabari Smith Jr. missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation that would’ve gave Houston the victory. Sengun and company started the overtime strong, holding a 119-114 lead with 2:30 remaining in extra time. However, the Rockets failed to score again, as the Bulls ended the game on a 10-0 run to claim the victory. Sengun lacked help late, as the squad couldn’t buy a basket in the second half of overtime. Houston again got off to a slow start, as was evidenced by the play of their best player, Sengun. The Rockets need to get off to faster starts, and bring the energy we saw in the second half and overtime for an entire game. They also need to improve at defending the three-point line. Chicago isn’t a great three-point shooting team, but they had a stellar night from beyond the arc against Houston. The Bulls starters were exceptional on Wednesday night. Chicago’s starting unit exploded for 104 points. Coby White continued his breakout season with a 30-point performance. Zach LaVine looks like himself again, as he scored 25 points in his third game back from injury. Nikola Vucevic added 18 points and 15 rebounds. And DeMar DeRozan chipped in 19 points. The Bulls shot lights out, as have many teams against the Rockets recently from the perimeter. It’s not rocket science that the absences of Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason coincide with this recent decline in exterior defense. Brooks is expected back before Eason, possibly as by next week.
Sengun scored all 25 of his points after the break in Chicago. After starting 0-5 from the floor, he didn’t score his first points until around the 9:30 mark of the third quarter. And after that, Sengun was rolling. And he almost single-handedly carried Houston to a comeback victory. Cam Whitmore had another solid game, scoring a career-high 16 points on 50% shooting in 33 minutes, the most action he’s seen as an NBA player. Whitmore continues to impress with each passing game. He’s one of the most athletic players in the entire league, and has an NBA-ready body despite being a rookie. Whitmore continues to benefit from the absences of Brooks and Eason. However, both players are expected back relatively soon. It will be intriguing to see how coach Ime Udoka manages the lineups and rotation once the Rockets are fully healthy again. Whitmore has shown he deserves a spot in the rotation. He’s been excellent in limited playing time since finally receiving an opportunity for more minutes. The 20th overall pick in the draft has been better so far than Amen Thompson, who Houston selected 4th overall with their first choice. No offense to Thompson, he’s simply more raw, and he’s dealt with injuries to start his career. Coming out of the G-League, his development will likely be more lengthy than Whitmore’s, who’s a Villanova product.
Despite the crushing defeat, there were silver linings to be found in the loss. Jabari Smith Jr. had another solid performance, scoring 18 points and 15 boards. Jabari also came inches away from winning the game for Houston after his three-pointer clanked short at the end of regulation. Fred VanVleet scored 20 points and dished out 10 assists in another impressive showing. Jalen Green wasn’t great, but he wasn’t terrible, and had a better showing than usual on the road. Green scored 18 points on 8-for-19 shooting, and dished out 8 dimes while grabbing 6 boards. The Rockets are sorely missing Brooks and Eason.Once they return, expect Houston’s defense to return to the form we saw in November and early December. For now, the squad will have to wade waters without two of their key pieces. This latest loss pushes the Rockets record to 18-18, back to and even .500 on the season. Houston is still 9th in the standings, and with 46 games remaining, anything is possible as we approach the mid-way point of the season. Up next, the Rockets will try and take advantage of a historically bad Pistons team as they visit Detroit on Friday night.