Guards’ back-to-back plan not solidified
With the Rockets to hold out Victor Oladipo on Sunday in the first game of their final back-to-back before the All-Star break, there is potential for guards John Wall and Oladipo to miss numerous games throughout the remainder of the season.
Even before they get to the season’s second half with more than twice as many back-to-backs as they will play in the first half, the Rockets could also be without Wall on Monday against the Cavaliers.
“We’re still kind of working it out,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “Victor obviously is coming off the foot injury. John participated (Sunday) in the limited practice that we had but he’s getting treatment on the foot that got landed on (Friday) night.”
That plan, if it continues in the second half of the schedule, could add to the
Rockets’ challenge to turn things around with 10 sets of back-to-backs among the 38 games after the All-Star break.
“It’s going to be hard for those guys to play all 10 back-to-backs,” Silas said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. Hopefully, they’re going to be able to play some of them at some level.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re really, really smart about the back-tobacks in the second half. It hasn’t been great in the first half not having one of those guys on the basketball side, but the long-term prognosis, the health, has to be first and foremost and we have to figure out the basketball part around that.”
Pressure to end skid not healthy
As desperate as the Rockets might feel to snap their 10-game losing streak, there was also an understanding they cannot play that way.
Finding the balance between knowing they need to improve and not becoming bogged down by doubt adds to the challenge.
“We just got to keep getting better, man,” guard Victor Oladipo said. “Stay optimistic and positive. I know it’s tough right now, obviously. It’s easy to kind of go the negative route. That’s not going to solve anything. In fact, it’ll make things worse. It’s just us. We’ve just got to figure out a way to win every night.”
The Rockets had an especially long video session Saturday followed by a brief practice before their back-to-back. But even with the video review to correct mistakes, Rockets coach Stephen Silas said he did not want to add to the pressure, saying he must “try as hard as it can be in this situation to keep an even keel.”
“There’s definitely a level of urgency,” he said. “We’re on a long losing streak. So, we’re feeling it. There’s pressure that’s applied in that to everybody. But players don’t play well when the pressure is heightened, when it’s like do-or-die. Most players (don’t perform well), when there is so much pressure you put on yourself to perform, to make shots, to make the right play. Players play their best when they are free at some level.
“Trying to balance that urgency with the ability to play free. to play to your strengths without constraints, is very important for us as a group.”
There is, however, one solution.
“We just have to go out there and win a ballgame,” guard Sterling Brown said. “I mean, we’re on a losing streak. We just have to get our pride up and get a win, regardless of the lineup or the rotation.”
3-point slump remains problem
The Rockets have not made better than 34 percent of their 3-pointers, roughly the percentage overall this season that has placed them last in the NBA this season, in any game during their 10-game losing streak.
They came close Friday despite a terrible stretch in the second and third quarters. But the downward spiral has been especially difficult to escape, though they had made 38.2 percent in the previous 12 games.
“It’s very hard to stave off the momentum of missed shots versus made shots,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “Obviously, we have been going through quite a shooting slump, as you saw in the third quarter (Friday when the Rockets went 3 of 16 on 3s) when we had multiple wide-open looks and they didn’t fall. Then, you go down to the other end and the other team is making.
“We are continually shooting shots. We’re continually being attentive to our drive-and-kick game. I thought our driveand-kick game (Friday) night was actually pretty good. We created a bunch of good looks.”
The Rockets attempt an average 39.3 open or wideopen 3s per game, the second most in the NBA. They have made just 34.8 percent of those.
“We have a few things to clean up, but a lot of it is just missed shots,” said Sterling Brown, whose 42.1 percent 3-point shooting is tied with Christian Wood for tops among the Rockets. “We’re getting great looks, guys driving and kicking. We’re just missing a lot of shots.”