Wood can’t stop skid
Center’s 21 points in long-awaited return not enough to avoid dubious mark
The faces changed, even looking vaguely familiar.
But the results were the same, with the Rockets’ losing streak now stretching from the start of Christian Wood’s injury to beyond his return.
Wood and Danuel House Jr. were back in the lineup, but the Rockets’ skid reached a franchise-record 18 consecutive losses as the Warriors cruised to a 108-94 rout Wednesday.
The Rockets couldn’t ride any sort of wave off the previous night’s ultimately failed comeback.
While the quest for the long-sought win — unfulfilled since Wood’s ankle injury Feb. 4 in Memphis — remained out of reach, the Rockets made progress toward smaller goals.
The Rockets gave more on-the-job training to 20-year-olds Kevin Porter Jr. and K.J. Martin and knocked some of the rust off Wood and House, even in limited minutes.
Porter again displayed promise Wednesday, with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting with seven assists.
Wood was especially productive, going 8-of-12 for 21 points along with
nine rebounds in 26 minutes.
He also showed flashes of why he was missed so badly, if the losing streak had not make that clear enough.
With less than four minutes remaining, he dropped Draymond Green with a crossover dribble, hitting a jumper over him as Green scrambled to his feet.
The time away, however, also remained evident. On the next possession, Wood drew a foul on Green with the same move, but missed all three of his free throws, falling to 5-of-11 from the line.
House was 4-of-8 for 11 points in 24 minutes, getting to the rim often though initially struggling to finish.
Even with Wood and House back, the Rockets remained short-handed with their starting backcourt of John Wall and Victor Oladipo out, often playing four rookies at a time.
Besides star guard Klay Thompson, who’s out for the season, the Warriors were without rookie James Wiseman and Eric Paschal, who are in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
But the Warriors had plenty left, even after Stephen Curry went out at the end of the third quarter.
Curry, who had a relatively quiet game with 18 points while making just 2-of-11 3-pointers, had backpedaled off the floor after missing a 3 at the buzzer, tripping over the metal riser at the Rockets’ bench. He fell and landed hard on his lower back, needing help as he walked slowly to the Warriors’ locker room, where he was ruled out with a bruised tailbone.
Jordan Poole picked up the slack with 23 points off the bench, while Kelly Oubre Jr. had 19 and Green finished with a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
That left the Rockets playing catch-up most of the way.
They had started well enough offensively that 6½ minutes into the game they led 21-18. But they were not getting stops, with the Warriors regularly hitting open 3s and fast-break layups. Green picked them apart in the halfcourt, routinely finding cutters.
When the Rockets went to their bench, the Warriors took off. The Rockets made just 3-of-9 shots to close the first quarter and then made just 6-of-19 shots in the second quarter, scoring a season-low 17 points in the period.
The Warriors closed the half with a 27-9 surge to lead by 24 and scored the first bucket of the second half as easily as any in the first half, with Oubre cutting to an uncontested layup.
The Rockets did begin to battle a bit defensively and got enough scoring from Wood and Porter to put a dent in the Warriors’ lead. After trailing by as many as 26, the Rockets closed to within 14 and were down 86-71 heading into the fourth quarter.
After making 3 of 5 3pointers to start the game, the Rockets made just 5-of-22 the rest of the way.
With the Rockets misfiring from deep, a big run never came. But Wood did play basketball, and considering the way things have gone, that has to at least rate a moral victory.