New York Rocket Pain: Knicks Spoil Houston’s Big Apple Visit, 121-99, as Rockets Lose Fifth Straight
Ugly Times. Franchise Wood. Team Versus Time.
Worse times got even uglier for the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, as they were blown out by the New York Knicks in the Big Apple, 121-99, in a game that was never really competitive. The Knicks had the lead throughout, and other than a 5-point deficit in the third quarter for Houston, New York held firm control throughout. The Rockets yet again struggled from beyond the arc. John Wall led Houston with 26 points, but he didn’t have enough help to make this contest worth watching.
The Rockets have now lost a season-high five straight games. And during this losing streak, which began when Christian Wood went down with an injury, it’s become clearer and clearer that Wood is Houston’s franchise player for the future. The squad hasn’t won a game since Wood went down, and the Rockets are dying to get their new big-man back. Wood was having an All-Star caliber year, along with being the leading candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award before he went down.
Houston’s running out of time. At 11-15, the Rockets are 13th in the standings, and faller further and further away from playoff competition in the West. If the squad can’t snap out of this losing funk soon, the Rockets hopes for the chance at the playoffs, or even the new play-in games this year, will be in jeopardy. It’s time for the ugly times to end for Houston, or this stretch will turn into the definitive theme of this season: ugly. Although there’s still time to change that for the Rockets, they’re slowly running out of time with each loss.