PHOENIX – Entering Saturday’s game, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka said the team’s keys to victory were limiting the Phoenix Suns’ scorers, taking care of the ball and playing at a higher pace.
The Rockets failed all those goals for the first 17 minutes of their 102-95 loss at Mortgage Matchup Center, their first two-game losing streak in the young season. In that time, Houston (7-3) let former Rockets Jalen Green make his first four shot attempts, committed eight turnovers leading to 15 Suns (3-5) points and scored zero fastbreak points
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The issues compounded on each other: Houston couldn’t get stops in part because of the turnovers, having to take the ball out of the basket limited the Rockets to operate in the halfcourt against a set defense and that led to long, stagnant, late-clock possessions that often ended in turnovers.
“Their physicality at the start, we didn’t handle it well again. … Anytime a team that’s struggling, you come out and let them be the aggressor, give them confidence and score a 35-point quarter … just make it a dogfight all game,” Udoka said. “Got to come out more prepared at the start. We got to have a better start than that.”
Houston trailed by 18 points before the change, as it often does, came on defense. The Rockets forced turnovers on their own and got some needed WD-40 for their offense. They surged back, winning the second quarter by 12 points to enter halftime tied.
A lot of that run came behind a small-ball unit of Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason that outscored Phoenix by 13 points in about six minutes, per FadeAway.
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“We (were) just versatile, moving the ball, one through five switching,” Durant said of the look. “It was just a good vibe and everybody was aggressive and it got us back in the game.”
SUNS 102, ROCKETS 99
|
FG |
FT |
Reb |
|||||
|
HOUSTON |
Min |
M-A |
M-A |
O-T |
A |
PF |
PTS |
|
Durant |
37:40 |
5-14 |
10-11 |
0-10 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
|
Smith Jr. |
38:57 |
7-12 |
0-0 |
3-9 |
2 |
3 |
15 |
|
Sengun |
31:42 |
5-16 |
4-4 |
1-6 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
|
Thompson |
39:13 |
7-14 |
3-4 |
5-7 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
|
VanVleet |
30:43 |
6-12 |
0-0 |
0-3 |
4 |
4 |
16 |
|
Eason |
22:38 |
1-8 |
0-0 |
5-7 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
Smart |
20:22 |
2-7 |
0-0 |
0-2 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
|
Sheppard |
13:08 |
2-8 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
Tshiebwe |
3:19 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Bogdanovic |
2:18 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Totals |
240:00 |
36-93 |
17-19 |
14-45 |
16 |
16 |
99 |
Percentages: FG .387, FT .895.
3-Point Goals: 10-35, .286 (VanVleet 4-9, Sheppard 2-6, Sengun 1-2, Smart 1-4, Smith Jr. 1-4, Durant 1-7, Bogdanovic 0-1, Eason 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 8 (Thompson 4, Eason, Sengun, Smith Jr., VanVleet).
Turnovers: 14 (Eason 4, Durant 2, Sengun 2, VanVleet 2, Sheppard, Smart, Smith Jr., Thompson).
Steals: 7 (Smith Jr. 3, Durant, Eason, Sheppard, Thompson).
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Technical Fouls: None.
|
FG |
FT |
Reb |
|||||
|
PHOENIX |
Min |
M-A |
M-A |
O-T |
A |
PF |
PTS |
|
Bridges |
31:26 |
5-12 |
2-2 |
1-10 |
7 |
1 |
13 |
|
Brooks |
37:21 |
4-10 |
0-0 |
1-4 |
1 |
4 |
11 |
|
Ighodaro |
22:58 |
2-3 |
0-0 |
1-6 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|
Booker |
39:08 |
10-24 |
2-2 |
0-2 |
3 |
3 |
24 |
|
Green |
33:55 |
7-14 |
2-4 |
0-3 |
6 |
1 |
16 |
|
Dunn |
23:21 |
3-5 |
0-0 |
2-5 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
|
Gillespie |
19:59 |
3-6 |
0-0 |
0-3 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
|
Maluach |
18:21 |
3-4 |
2-3 |
4-10 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
|
Kennard |
13:31 |
4-7 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
2 |
0 |
11 |
|
Totals |
240:00 |
41-85 |
8-11 |
9-44 |
29 |
18 |
102 |
Percentages: FG .482, FT .727.
3-Point Goals: 12-34, .353 (Kennard 3-6, Brooks 3-7, Dunn 2-2, Booker 2-9, Gillespie 1-3, Bridges 1-5, Green 0-1, Maluach 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 3 (Maluach 2, Bridges).
Turnovers: 15 (Booker 4, Green 4, Ighodaro 3, Maluach 2, Brooks, Kennard).
Steals: 8 (Booker 3, Dunn 3, Green, Maluach).
Technical Fouls: None.
|
Houston |
23 |
24 |
28 |
24 |
– |
99 |
|
Phoenix |
35 |
12 |
29 |
26 |
– |
102 |
A_17,071 (18,422).
The teams were still tied, now at 93, with 4:32 left in the game. Devin Booker, who at that point had 15 points on 6-for-17 shooting, went on a 9-2 run by himself that ultimately won the game. He finished with a game-high 24, with Udoka attributing his late eruption to Rockets “mistakes.”
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“He got loose there,” said Durant, who led Houston with 21 points, of his former teammate. “He got some screens. He had to hit some tough ones too. He hit a rainbow shot. He’s just a great shotmaker. But you look at his stats: 10-for-24, four turnovers. It’s just those few late shots and that’s what he does. That’s what he gets paid for. That’s why he’s the Hall of Famer.”
The Rockets fought back again. Durant had a semi-open 3-pointer that could have tied the game with 10.6 seconds left but couldn’t convert.
“I just got to make shots,” he said. “I think my teammates rely on me in the fourth quarter, and I haven’t (come) through yet.”
Rockets inefficient inside
Rockets starting center Alperen Şengün struggled to start Saturday’s game, missing seven of his first eight shots. He closed strong, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter.
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“Unprepared, it looked like at the start, but picked it up in the fourth. Had a great fourth quarter … sloppiness, some easy missed shots, the shots that he made in the fourth quarter,” Udoka said of Şengün, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists on 5-for-16 shooting.
The coach went on to say that multiple Rockets got to the rim and missed shots they’d usually make. Houston struggled from the field, shooting just 38.3%, and a major reason was poor shooting in close.
Houston shot 44.1% at the rim, per Cleaning the Glass, a mark in the third percentile among all regular season games from this season.
Thompson – who finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks – went 7-for-13 at the rim and said he was looking for fouls too often and needed to finish stronger through contact.
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Low animosity
Smith Jr., speaking at practice Friday, said there’s “always a little animosity” between the Rockets and Suns because you’re playing against people you know and “different sides might feel a way about the trade.”
Smith was referring to the deal that sent Durant to Houston and Green and Dillon Brooks to Phoenix. Last season featured a couple electric clashes between the squads: Durant hitting a game-winner that he said meant more after being “kicked out” of Phoenix and an April matchup that featured heavy trash talk between Green and Thompson and Brooks and Durant.
Durant got booed in Saturday’s edition and there was some trash talk from Green, seemingly directed at the Rockets bench. But Brooks and Green hugged Rockets players and staff members and Durant said it was “a normal regular game.”
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“I played here for two and a half years, bro. Not that deep. I loved living in Phoenix. I miss it every day, to be honest with you, my favorite place to live in the league,” he said. “But outside of that, I got no problems with anybody here.”
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This article originally published at Houston Rockets lose second straight: What went wrong against the Suns.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
