Slow Start Dooms Rockets in 120-101 Loss to Warriors
One for the Road. Not This Time. Snake-Bit from Three.
From the opening tip, the Rockets were in trouble in the Bay Area, a familiar place Houston’s ventured over the past decade. Despite having no Klay Thompson, the Warriors had no problems taking care of the Rockets on Saturday night. The Warriors staved off a late Houston comeback attempt to runaway with a 120-101 victory, dealing the Rockets another road defeat. Andrew Wiggins had his best game of the season, leading the Warriors with 36 points on a red-hot 14-for-19 shooting from the floor, including a career-high 8 three-pointers. Stephen Curry chipped in with 30 points to plunge the any hopes of a Rocket-comeback. Kevin Porter Jr. led the Rockets with 20 points, but only made one his nine three-point attempts. Jalen Green struggled once mightily, scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Tari Eason was one of the few bright spots for the Rockets. His best two games have both come against Golden State. Eason secured a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and ignited Houston’s comeback attempt early in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets trailed 13-2 early in this contest to begin another dangerous quest of trying to accomplish a comeback win. Unlike in Phoenix, the Houston wasn’t able to overcome their early deficiencies. The Rockets trailed by as many as 25 points, 52-27, in the second quarter. Tari Eason and the Goon Squad fueled a valiant comeback attempt for Houston, cutting the massive deficit to only four, with the score 100-96 and around six and half minutes remaining the game. But once Curry and Wiggins checked back into the game, the rest was history. Golden State outscored the Rockets 20-5 in the final 6:30 of the game to put Houston’s hopes of another impressive road win to rest. The Rockets managed only 5 points in the final six minutes of the game, and couldn’t buy a basket as the Warriors ran away with a late victory, extending their NBA-best home record to 11-1.
Despite the early deficit, and the fact the squad ran out of gas late against Golden State, the Rockets still played hard. But they’ve got to avoid getting off to these slow starts. They’re killing Houston’s chances of winning games. It’s tough to play come-from-behind in the NBA, especially when you’re a young team like the Rockets. What really ended any hopes Houston had at winning in the Bay Area on Saturday night was the three-point line. The Rockets were outscored by a whopping 66 points from beyond the arc, as Curry and Wiggins had 8 threes apiece. As a team, Houston was snake-bit from three. The Rockets shot a miserable 3-for-28 from three-point land, equivalent to 10%. You’re not going to win many games shooting that percentage from the NBA’s promise land. Meanwhile, the Warriors shot 25-for-52 from deep, good for 48% from beyond the arc. The three point discrepancies and the early deficit was Houston’s downfall on Saturday night. Up next, the Rockets finally gets a nice home stretch. Eight of the Rockets next nine games are back home in Houston, at the friendly confines of Toyota Center. And on Monday night they’ll be seeing the return of a very familiar face (and beard)… as James Harden makes his return to H-Town for only the third time since his ugly departure nearly two years ago. For almost a decade, Harden dominated opponents in a Rockets uniform. The new kids will try and give the Beard a taste of his own medicine as they return home on Monday night.