Undermanned Rockets Banished by Kings, 125-105, as Houston Loses 14th in a Row
Unforeseen Absences. Another One Bites the Dust. Light at the End of the Tunnel.
“Harder to tell the good from the bad, villains from heroes these days,” Felix Leiter says to James Bond in this fall’s upcoming epic for the ages, No Time to Die. A quote that came to mind after hearing P.J. Tucker would not be in the lineup, and as a result, the Rockets got blown out by the Kings, 125-105, extending the skid to 14 games. Houston got out played by a Sacramento starting lineup that combined to score 101 points. Victor Oladipo led the Rockets with 23 points and 9 dimes, but without John Wall, Houston didn’t have enough defensive firepower to stop De’Aaron Fox, who led the Kings with 30 points. And the rest of Sac-Town’s squad just outplayed Houston from the get-go. It was odd to see P.J. Tucker not in the starting lineup. And later it was announced, he and team have agreed to part ways, as the Rockets are currently looking for trade suitors for Tucker. P.J.’s departure is the final sign that Houston’s officially embracing the tank this year.
If matters couldn’t get any worse, another Rocket fell victim to the injury bug. Eric Gordon suffered a groin injury, and is expected to miss around 4-to-6 weeks. This leaves Houston with little veteran playmaking outside of the frequently injured Wall and Oladipo. Looking at the bright side, Kevin Porter Jr. was spectacular in his Rockets debut. The promising youngster scored 13 points, and led Houston’s facilitation on offense, garnering 10 dimes to lead the squad. K.J. Martin also provided a promising look for the franchise’s future, scoring 13 points as well. The young duo, along with Christian Wood, are the focus of the franchise’s future.
Whether you’ve been clamoring for P.J. to get traded, or whether you appreciate his grit and sacrifice over the past three seasons, Tucker is the embodiment of the player every coach would love to coach. P.J. never established a spotlight on the level of Harden’s, but that was never meant to be. Tucker was a fan favorite, and Houston’s going to miss what Tucker brought to this team. Got ahead and call him the villain. He never scored 30 points a game like Harden. P.J. never had the fancy SportsCenter-worthy highlights that the Beard possessed on a nightly basis. Tucker didn’t score a lot of points or compile up the glossy stats. P.J. Tucker literally sacrificed everything for the betterment of the team. The stuff no professional basketball players enjoy doing: hustling like your life’s on the line, diving for a loose ball like it’s your newborn baby, defending some of the best players in the world, playing almost 40 minutes a night while hardly missing a single game… characteristics of a true hero.