GAINS IN A LOSS
Comeback bid falls short but indicates progress from previous visit to Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Throughout the Rockets’ seven-game win streak, one question surfaced repeatedly from the mouths and keyboards of onlookers around the league: Is this improvement for real?
Saturday’s game against the Grizzlies in Memphis, the site of the Rockets’ worst loss of the season a month earlier, seemed a worthy litmus test.
After watching the Rockets come back from trailing by 21 points to within six points in a 113-106 loss, the answer appears to be yes. Although the base result remained the same, another addition to the L column, the December Rockets fared far better than the preThanksgiving Rockets.
Not everything worked perfectly. The Rockets were dominated on the boards for most of the game, made only 19 of 29 free throws and let the Grizzlies shoot 50 percent from the field.
To Christian Wood, who led Houston with 22 points and 11 rebounds, the main difference was clear.
“Togetherness,” he said. “I think last time we was here, we were actually in the same situation. We would have gave up and just probably give up the lead and just let the game be what it is. But we're fighting and we're fighting to the end, and that's really all you can ask for.”
Here are takeaways from the loss:
1. Second-unit strong
Over the last nine games, the Rockets’ bench has provided an undeniable spark. Although the rotations looked a bit different Saturday due to a short bench and the reinsertion of Daniel Theis into the starting lineup, the second unit continued to deliver.
Houston’s bench scored 54 points, four short of a season high, led by 18 points from Armoni Brooks in 34 minutes. Alperen Sengun (15 points) and Josh Christopher (12 points) played 23 and 22 minutes, respectively, while scoring in double figures. Brooks and Sengun each had six assists, matching a career high for Brooks.
Brooks, who started the last two games and finished Saturday’s game with the starters in Theis’ place, said the cohesion among the second unit, particularly between him and Christopher, has developed from more time playing together in practice.
Rockets coach Stephen Silas spent much of the game mixing and matching lineups to combat fatigue and find the right combinations. Brooks, Sengun and Christopher — whether playing with reserves or with starters — helped to catalyze the Rockets’ offense in the second half and multiple times trimmed the deficit to under 10 points.
“(It’s) very rare that they don't come together and give us a boost, and they earn the minutes that they
get,” Silas said. “It would be easier to just roll with the starters and give those guys a little bite of the apple, but they deserve it. They all got 20-plus minutes tonight and they earned it. They played so well, played well together, and that's what we need for that group, especially when we had guys play long, hard physical minutes last night.”
2. Double trouble
Sengun was facing the baseline, trapped under the basket by two defenders with two more incoming, but Wood sensed what would happen next as he ran toward the hoop.
Sengun, without turning his head, whipped the ball behind his back to Wood for a layup. Four Grizzlies defenders crowding the paint could not stop it.
“I was ready, I was ready,” Wood said, smiling.
The Rockets’ return to a two-big lineup was executed at first to limited success with Theis and Wood starting. Theis matched up against 6-11 Grizzlies center Steven Adams and defended well enough, but after Adams exited the game with a sprained ankle in the third quarter, the Rockets returned Theis to the bench and opted for more flexible lineups.
Wood and Sengun have not shared the court often this season, 162 minutes total, but the 12 minutes in which they played together in Memphis were promising. The Rockets got Sengun touches in the post where he could either kick out to a shooter or find a cutting teammate, leaving Wood free to operate on the perimeter or roll to the rim. Of Sengun’s six assists, two were passes to Wood in the fourth quarter.
“He's looking for me more than anybody, he tells me all the time,” Wood said. “His vision is very great for him being 19 and a rookie, and for his ability to find others. Instead of being just off of screens and out of his post-ups, when they double him he spins, he goes baseline. It's great. So just figuring each other out. Slowly but surely, we will.”
Silas said he was pleased with the inside-outside threat the pairing delivers, which is why he started the fourth quarter with Wood and Sengun on the floor after the Rockets cut the deficit to nine points.
“Al-P was doing a great job of posting up and finishing inside but also making plays for others,” Silas said. “So when we had Josh out there, Al-P became the guy who we could give the ball to make plays for others. So Christian, with his shooting ability, stretching the floor and Al-P with his inside play works pretty well to me. It's good, because that's something we can build on.”
3. A close finish
The Rockets have come a long way in their late-game execution, but Saturday showed there are still mistakes to clean up.
After the group of Brooks, Wood, Garrison Mathews, Jae’Sean Tate and D.J. Augustin got the Rockets within six points of the Grizzlies with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Houston was outscored 5-4 for the rest of the game. In that span, the Rockets went 2 for 4 on field goal attempts but had one turnover and zero free throw attempts.
The Grizzlies, who shot just 61 percent at the foul line on the night, missed their only field goal attempt but shot 5 of 7 on free throws to finish the game. Three of the final free throws were made by Kyle Anderson, who the Rockets intentionally fouled twice because he was 3 of 8 at the line to that point.
A turnover by Augustin caused Tate to intentionally foul Anderson the first time, and Mathews did the same after Wood missed a 3pointer. Wood’s putback layup with 38 seconds left cut the Grizzlies’ lead to 110104. The Rockets then wanted to get a steal on the inbound pass or, if not a steal, foul right away. They did neither and costly seconds dripped off the clock before Wood fouled Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks near mid-court.
“We weren’t super organized on that,” Silas said. “We've gone over it three or four times in practice, but we just have to continue to do that.”
The Grizzlies got the ball back after Brooks’ free throws, and on the resulting possession Wood was whistled for an unintentional foul on Anderson. Wood attempted to plead his case to the official, saying, “C’mon, bro,” but it fell on deaf ears. Anderson made one of two free throws to wrap up the win.