16 Oh No: Houston’s Skid Continues as Celtics Cruise by Rockets, 134-107
Too Many Jays. The Other Guy. Stuck on 11.
The misery continued in Houston on Monday night as the Rockets fell to the Celtics, 134-107, resulting in their 16th straight loss. Boston was clearly the better team. And without John Wall or Christian Wood, Houston had little chance in the first place of gutting out a victory. Victor Oladipo led the Rockets with 26 points, but Houston nonetheless got blown out once again. The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who combined to score 47 Boston points. Kevin Porter Jr. struggled with his shot against the C’s, scoring 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting. However, the Rockets have another bright young stud blossoming during this borrowed season.
Kenyon Martin Jr. had the best game of his career, scoring a career-high 21 points, to go along with 4 boards and 3 dimes. Once KJ Martin gets more comfortable playing at the NBA level, Houston will have another dangerous young player on their team. Martin Jr. played with Porter Jr. in the G-League, and both were called up to Houston’s roster at the same time. While Porter’s getting most of the attention, and deservedly so, don’t sleep on Martin. KJ has the potential to be much better than people expect. The Rockets just need their young guns to gain more experience. And now’s a better season than ever.
Houston’s now lost 16 games in a row. It seems like the Rockets haven’t won all year. And while that’s not true (their last victory came in Memphis on February 4th), this losing streak has revamped the shape of this season. The squad was sitting pretty, a game above .500, with a record of 11-10, before all the savagery began. And Houston’s been stuck on number 11 ever since. The embarrassing part is, most of these losses have been blowouts. And yes, the Rockets are undermanned, but getting crushed every night is demoralizing.