Gordon’s Late Heroics Lift Rockets Past Magic, 118-116
Last Second Streaking. Deja Boo. Moving Up.
Houston’s winning streak came within mere seconds of ending on Friday night, but Eric Gordon drove to the lane and hit a running floater with 1.6 seconds remaining, breaking a 116-116 tie, and giving Houston the lead for good. Cole Anthony, who led the Magic with 26 points, had a great look from deep to win the game, but it clanked off the back iron. As a result, the Rockets came out victorious for the fifth straight game, narrowly surviving Orlando’s rally to win, 118-116. Houston held their biggest lead of the game in the fourth quarter, 114-101, but the Magic came all the way back to tie it up, giving their best player a great look to win it, but the Rockets got lucky in the end. It was as if the weight of this winning streak started to wear on Houston’s young squad. Luckily, the Rockets still have some veterans. The old man on the team, Eric Gordon, had his best game of the season. Gordon took over in the fourth quarter, and hit the go-ahead bucket for Houston. EG scored a season-high 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting to lead the Rockets. Christian Wood had another monster double-double, with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Wood dominated the third period, scoring 16 points in the frame. Jae’Sean Tate chipped in 15 points and grabbed 7 boards. Garrison Matthews continued his stretch of double-digit scoring as a starter, now averaging 17.4 points a night when he suits up with the first lineup. Despite a slow start to the game, Matthews had a strong fourth quarter. “Gritty Garrison” scored 10 of his 16 points in the final period, and hit some big shots to keep the Magic at bay. Alperen Sengun registered 13 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds in only 19 minutes. The Turkish rookie is having a stellar season in limited playing time, but to those watching closely, it’s evident his minutes won’t be limited for long.
Unfortunately, for the second straight game, Kevin Porter Jr. left the game with the same thigh injury that’s been bothering him for some time now. Scoot will be held out of Houston’s next game on Sunday, in hopes he can fully recover. KPJ had another solid performance in limited minutes, scoring 8 points and dishing out 6 assists in only 18 minutes of action. After Sunday’s game, the Rockets don’t play again until Wednesday. So KPJ, Jalen Green, and others will have more time to recover, and hopefully be back on the court sooner than later.
And all of a sudden, as of this moment, the Houston Rockets are owners of the NBA’s longest current winning streak, at five games. It’s the first time in history a team has won 5 games in a row after losing 15 straight. Ever since the lineup adjustments, Houston’s looked like a different team. They even moved up one spot in the standings, from 15th to 14th, owing the tiebreaker with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not that it means anything, but the NBA has never had a season like this. We’re now over a quarter of the way into the season, and only three teams in the West have records above .500. I know it sounds silly, but the Rockets are only 3 losses behind Portland for the final play-in berth. The playoffs never seemed to be on this team’s horizon, and they probably are still a few years away, but if Houston keeps playing hard, anything is possible this season. After the toughest early-season schedule in the NBA, the Rockets are currently taking advantage of the easiest portion of their season. Other than the Chicago Bulls (the Hornets have regressed since the Rockets beat them), Houston still has yet to beat a worthy opponent. Nonetheless, wins are hard to come by in the NBA regardless of the opponent. The Rockets have another chance to add a win to their streak as the lowly Pelicans come to town on Sunday. However, New Orleans has played well of late, and it should be the toughest game Houston’s played since the Rockets broke their losing streak.