Rockets Fall Apart in Ugly 99-91 Loss to Pacers
Home-Stopped. A Tale of Two Halves. Missing Scoot.
The Rockets home-stand got off to a brilliant start in the beginning of their matchup with the Pacers. Indiana scored the first bucket of the game, but afterwards Houston outscored the Pacers 25-4, and ended up with a 25-10 lead after the first quarter. That lead would extend to as many as 20 points in the second period, before Indiana slowly began to chip away. Their head coach, Rick Carlisle, got ejected in the second period, which sparked the Pacers run, and the game was only a five-point favor in Houston’s way, 50-45, heading into halftime. Unfortunately, the Rockets couldn’t hang on, and the Pacers stormed back to lead by as many as ten points, eventually dealing Houston a 99-91 defeat. It appeared like the Rockets got a little too comfortable with that 20-point edge, and once the Pacers became more locked into the game, Houston had a steamroller headed their way.
As great as the Rockets were defensively, this was the second straight opponent Houston has held under 100 points, the Rockets offense seemed to stop. They managed only 41 points in the second half, good for only 91 in the game. Houston shot only 34% from the field, including a dismal 21% from three-point range. Alperen Sengun had 5 of the team’s near-record 19 blocks in the squad’s previous matchup, the win in Dallas. Against Indiana, the Rockets only garnered 4 blocks as an entire team for the night. Tyrese Haliburton led the way for the Pacers with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. After a slow start, Myles Turner got hot late for Indiana, and punished Houston with 17 points and 7 boards. Four more players scored in double figures for the Pacers, who withstood a terrible 3-for-15 shooting night from Buddy Hield, usually one of the league’s best sharpshooters.
Eric Gordon had his best game of the season, leading the Rockets with 24 points to go along with 6 boards and 3 dimes. Jalen Green had another awful shooting night from then floor, going 2-for-10 from the field. However, he was much better from the charity stripe, tying a career-high with 12 free throws made (out of 15 attempted). Green finished the night with 16 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. He continues to improve his rebounding and distributing, but Green’s shot has been inconsistent overall as we near the quarter mark of this season. He started off hot, and then seemed to cool off, Green’s too good of a player to be a streaky shooter. Look for his shot to improve as the season moves along. Jabari Smith Jr. contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds, but also continues to struggle shooting the basketball. Jabari went 4-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-8 beyond the arc. The Rockets need their young guys to be more efficient taking that many attempts if they want to avoid future collapses comparable to this game against the Pacers.
Houston really missed Kevin Porter Jr. tonight, who missed the contest with an injury. Scoot creates more space for Jalen Green and the rest of his teammates, and is off to a nice start to the season. KPJ’s injury doesn’t appear to be anything serious, but the Rockets need him back as soon as possible. They are a dysfunctional team offensively without Scoot running the show. If Porter Jr. played Friday night, Houston likely avoids blowing a 20-point lead. He’s one of the most important players on this squad, and his absence proved it in the loss to the Pacers. Up next, the Golden State Warriors come to town. The defending-champs are off to a slow start to the season. Their record stands at 7-9, and they’re still winless on the road, at 0-8. It would be brilliant if the Rockets could push Golden State’s road losing streak to nine on Sunday night… and finally get their second home-win of the season in part-two of this current home-stand.