Rockets Fail to Hold Early Lead, Fall to Celtics, 107-97
Pain in the Middle. Jalen Jordan? Rough Road Ahead.
For a moment, it looked like the Rockets might pull the upset, and keep Boston winless. Houston led by 8 points after the first quarter on Sunday night, but the Celtics took control of the game in the second and third quarters. Boston outscored the Rockets by 25 in the middle periods en route to handing Houston their first home loss of the season, 107-97. Jaylen Brown missed this contest due to an injury. It didn’t matter. The Celtics still had Jayson Tatum, who rose to occasion with 31 points on 50% shooting to lead Boston. Houston simply had no answer for Boston’s young superstar, arguably the best player they’ve faced so far in this early season. And the competition is only going to get stiffer from here on out.
After two subpar games to start his career, Jalen Green drew comparisons to Michael Jordan in only his third professional game. Green was more aggressive from the start against the men in green, tying an NBA rookie record with 8 made three pointers. Green scored 30 points on a much-improved 11-for-18 shooting from the floor, including 8-for-10 from downtown. Michael Jordan scored his first 30 point game in his third game as well. Houston can only hope the comparisons between Green and MJ continue as Jalen’s career moves forwards. Kevin Porter Jr. scored 15 points, and did a nice job of deferring to Jalen Green, allowing the Rockets’ young star to become a more influential part of the offense. However, KPJ had 8 of Houston’s 18 turnovers, a stat that’s crushed the squad early in the season. These traits are expected with a young team.. mistakes, turnovers.. it’s all part of the rebuilding process. But the Rockets can do a better job at handling the ball, and should improve with time. Christian Wood had another All-Star caliber game for Houston, with 20 points and 9 boards. And Alperen Sengun quietly had a sneaky good game, especially on defense. Sengun finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in only 19 minutes of action. The Rockets have to love what the early returns they’re witnessing from the Turkish rookie. Sengun already appears to be one of the steals of the draft, and is becoming a fan-favorite in Houston.
After a relatively easy three games to start the season, the road’s about to get rough for the Rockets. Six of Houston’s next seven games are on the road, and all against Western Conference playoff teams from last year. The squad will need to play as hard as they can, and feed off Jae’Sean Tate’s energy, who had another good game on Sunday, with 12 points and 8 rebounds. This could be the start to a long losing skid for the Rockets, but if the squad builds on their chemistry, and Jalen Green continues to draw MJ comparisons… Houston has a chance to possibly upset some competition on what could be a rocky road trip