Rockets Falter Late in 124-118 Loss to Knicks
Improved Effort. Dog Days. Skidding.
Despite an overall improved effort from Houston, and an eleven point cushion entering the fourth quarter, the Rockets still managed to fall to the Knicks, 124-118, at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. After a quiet first half where he scored only 13 points, Jalen Brunson exploded in the second half to lead New York’s rally, finishing with 42 points and 10 assists for the Knicks. Houston’s Amen Thompson had his third triple-double of the season, scoring 25 points, grabbing 11 boards, and dishing out 11 assists to lead the Rockets.
Even in their victories, Houston has the bad habit of letting teams back into games after holding a big lead. Sometimes the Rockets hang on to win, but that wasn’t the case against the Knicks. The squad played well missing three key rotational players (Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, and Jabari Smith Jr.), but it still wasn’t enough to beat one of the beasts of the Eastern Conference. New York is slightly behind the Boston Celtics for the second seed out East. And the Rockets are now one game in the loss column behind the Memphis Grizzlies for second place in the Western Conference.
For the first time all season, Houston has lost three consecutive games, and finds themselves mired in a true losing streak. This time of the NBA season is considered the NBA’s “Dog Days,” when teams often hit a wall. It seems like the Rockets are experiencing the dog days with a bad mixture of significant injuries. However, Houston has a great chance to break the skid in their next game against the Nets, who beat the Rockets on Saturday night at Toyota Center back in Houston. It’s not known if VanVleet or Sengun will return for Tuesday night’s contest in Brooklyn. And Smith Jr. still doesn’t have a return date, but it’s appearing he’s progressing, and should hopefully be back on the court in roughly a month.
The Rockets need to put this game behind them, and move on to get revenge on a much worse Nets team. Brooklyn should’ve never beaten Houston in the first matchup on Saturday. The Rockets beat themselves, and were never ready or prepared to play upon the opening tip. Houston’s effort was much better in the Garden on Monday night. They’ll need to carry that energy across the Brooklyn Bridge as they prepare to face the Nets in the second game of this New York double-head on Tuesday night.