Rockets Dismantled by Pelicans, 127-105, as Season Resumes
Road Worriers. Out of Contention. Home End.
Houston entered their post All Star Break portion of the season on Thursday night, with the hopes of turning a new leaf on the road. However, their visit to The Big Easy turned into anything but easy, as the Rockets were pounded by the Pelicans, 127-105, en route to another road loss on the season. Amen Thompson scored a career-high 22 points to lead Houston, as he was basically the lone bright spot for the Rockets on Thursday. Alperen Sengun added 20 points and 9 boards, but Houston was overmatched from the opening tip in New Orleans. C.J. McCollum led the Pelicans with 28 points. Zion Williamson added 27 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 14 rebounds for a New Orleans team that dominated the battle inside the paint. Jalen Green scored 10 points for Houston, but shot only 3-for-14 from the floor, as his struggles on the road continued. The Rockets never really made this contest interesting, as they failed to outscore the Pelicans in any of the four quarters.
The Rockets have now the second worst road record in the entire league, only to the Detroit Pistons, who own the NBA’s worst overall record. Houston is a dismal 5-22 on the road. That’s a big enough sample size to note the Rockets are desperately struggling away from home. They’ve played almost two-thirds of the way through the season, and with 14 road games remaining, Houston will be hard-pressed to get even 10 road wins this season. With an overall record of 24-31, the Rockets are now 5 games out of the final Play-In position, with only 27 games remaining in the season. Houston’s not officially out of contention yet, but their chances are slimming with each loss.
Up next, the Rockets will return home to the friendly confines of Toyota Center, where they seem to play like a different team. Houston is 19-9 at home, the best home record in the Western Conference outside of the top four seeds. Houston has tough competition coming into town, as they’ll host the Phoenix Suns on Friday, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Both of those teams are playoff-bound, and could possibly even win the West. Hopefully a return home can get the Rockets back on track, as they enter the final third stretch of the season.