Defensive strides start to take hold
Of all the ways to measure the Rockets’ progress not even two weeks since opening night, to say nothing of in comparison to the miserable past seasons, center Alperen Şengün might have captured the changes best.
He could have simply pointed to the scoreboard, where the Rockets led the Sacramento Kings by 40 on Monday before finishing off a 122-97 win.
He could have cited the record, where the Rockets improved to 3-3 to be at .500 for the first time since they split the first two games of the 2021-22 season.
He could have offered a nod toward the team down the hall that had put up an average of 136 points against the Rockets last season and in two games in the past three days failed to reach 100, even with a benchescleared scoring surge on Monday.
He instead painted a picture, the sort that last season would have been as out of place as a Monet in an outhouse.
“I can say we are playing like animals, right now,” Şengün said. “Out there wild. Everyone is tough and physical, everyone’s helping each other and nobody’s getting easy points anymore. We’re running back. We’re doing everything right now.
“We need to keep this up all year, and we’re not going to let anyone mess with us this year.”
Greater tests will come, starting Wednesday against the Lakers and with games on the homestand remaining against the Pelicans and Nuggets, teams that punished the Rockets last season as much as the Kings did.
The Kings on Monday desperately missed star guard De’Aaron Fox. And a three-game winning streak is not going to render the past three seasons a distant memory. But it is a sign of progress, especially in the areas that the Rockets had emphasized most to become the foundation of improvement.
The Rockets sought to rework and rebuild their defense, especially at the 3-point line and in transition. The Kings made 25.7% of their 3s in the two games against the Rockets prior to Monday’s fourth quarter with the benches cleared. The Rockets had allowed an average of 18.5 fast break points against the Kings last season, they gave up two on Saturday and six prior to the fourth quarter on Monday.
Ranking 27th in the NBA in 3-point defense last season, they are sixth this season. Last in fast break points allowed last season, they are first this season. Their switching defense has been increasingly backed by scrambling help that on Monday, repeatedly had the Kings racing the shot clock.
“A lot of it, a lot of it,” Kings coach said of how the Rockets’ physicality controlled the game, citing a term that usually had little to do with their play last season. “They had us on our heels. Shot clock violations. Not only shot clock violations; the shots we took. There were three or four times that we pulled up from 3 10 feet outside the line because of their physicality pushing us further and further and further out.”
Offensively, the Rockets have gone from last in 3-point shooting to eighth, and from last in assists per game to 10th.
Şengün had a careerhigh 12 assists, adding 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting, eight rebounds and outplaying Sacramento AllStar Domantas Sabonis. Jalen Green scored a season-high 23 points. Neither played in the fourth quarter.
“I loved our aggressiveness at the start,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “They came out with some more physicality and tried to increase their pressure and we handled it well and kind of threw it back at them. Loved everything we did coming out and taking the fight, taking the initial hit and responding well.”
Transition defense, 3-point defense and ball movement leading to improved shot selection had been Udoka’s top priorities. He has had to add defensive rebounding, and after a strong performance on Saturday, the Rockets slipped on the boards again, allowing 19 second-chance points.
Yet, the Rockets showed the improvement in the areas that had been their greatest concerns and demonstrated why those facets were such a big emphasis.
“It’s kind of reiterating the points we were emphasizing coming into it,” Udoka said of the past three games. “Every game, even the first three losses, didn’t play extremely well against Orlando and got it back to … one before letting go of the rope there. San Antonio, make a shot or two you win that game. Even Golden State, taking a three-point lead late in the fourth before (Stephen) Curry got hot. Even in those three losses I thought we played well; just didn’t sustain the effort.
“Put it all together in these two games. They hurt us on the glass a little bit more, we talked about rebounding, as well. But it starts with defense, getting those stops and getting out and playing fast. When we guard this well, our defense turns to offense. Got a lot of handlers and scorers. We’re switching well, communicating better.”
Other than rebounding, he had a long list of areas that have gone well. That could be a good sign if it means the subjects of greatest emphasis become the areas of greatest improvement. It also can be another measure of how much better the Rockets have played than in their recent past, even if only for a few games. Green offered another. “I think it’s lit, it’s super lit,” Green said of the Rockets’ progress. “I hope we keep this streak going. Yeah, I’m all happy about it.”