Numbers don’t add up in defeat
The Rockets had their usual math problem with the Pelicans hitting the 3pointers that the Rockets missed. They have become accustomed to the issue, having been forced to try to overcome the immutable fact that 3s are worth more than 2s.
But with former Rockets coach and 3-point advocate Mike D’Antoni watching in his role as a Pelicans advisor, the Rockets took the math problem to another level.
Threes are also worth more than ones.
The Rockets lived at the line. They had their best and most prolific freethrow shooting game of the season. But with the Pelicans scoring too easily from the start, the Rockets could not keep up that way.
The Pelicans led by 20 at halftime with the Rockets closing to within nine with six minutes left and to within seven in the final minute. But the Rockets could not get the stops down the stretch they got to stun the Pelicans on Friday, falling 117-107, Sunday at Toyota Center, snapping their season-long threegame winning streak.
Jalen Green had 40 points, two shy of his career high, making 14 of 14 free throws. Kevin Porter Jr. added 25. Between them, they made 7 of 18 3s. The rest of the Rockets, however, went 2 of 15 from the 3-point line. Only Tari Eason, who had 10 points, also scored in double figures.
Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum led the Pelicans with 26 points each, while Jonas Valanciunas had 21. When the Rockets were still within range, Valanciunas made 3 of 4 free throws in the closing minutes when the Rockets tried to defend him with 6-4 Jae’Sean Tate after Alperen Sengun fouled out.
That did force the Pelicans to score one point at a time. But by then, the Rockets — who went 36 of 38 from the line, making their first 21 attempts — had scored at a crawl for too long to keep pace.
Going Green
When the Rockets cut a 20-point halftime deficit in half in the third quarter, they improved in several important ways. They put up a bit more of a fight defensively. They took care of the ball better, committing one turnover in the third quarter. But most conspicuously, Green took over.
Green scored 16 of his 40 points in the third quarter, as he worked to find shots in the lane or drove to draw fouls.
When he completed a four-point play early in the fourth quarter, Green had 35 points, having made all 14 of his free throws, one shy of his career high in a game (on 17 attempts).
The Rockets record for free throws made without a miss is James Harden’s 24. Kevin Durant has the record for made free throws without a miss by a player 21 or younger, hitting 18 as a SuperSonics rookie.
The game was Green’s 11th this season scoring at least 30 points. He had eight 30-point games as a rookie, giving him the ninth most 30-point games for a player 21 or younger through the first 132 games of his career.
The defense rested
Late in the Rockets’ win Friday, the Pelicans missed four shots they would normally consider to be great looks. Trey Murphy III missed a pair of open 3s. Ingram twice missed midrange jumpers.
The Rockets on Sunday seemed to have concluded that giving up open shots would be a sound defensive strategy.
Some of their trouble came from the attention they needed to pay Valanciunas inside, sending double-team help to the post. But they also allowed the Pelicans to move easily with the ball to good shots, which screamed opportunities for McCollum and Ingram.
They also could not match up in transition, especially surrendering corner 3s. Valanciunas did not dominate, though he made his presence felt. The Pelicans’ ballhandlers did.
Playing in traffic
The Rockets rely on points in the paint. They average the fifth most in the league and have led the league in paint scoring in March.
They need to score inside since they cannot score from the 3-point line, where they have the worst shooting percentage in the NBA and made just 3 of 19 (15.8 percent) in the first half.
But teams do scout. The Pelicans didn’t even have to scout since they played the Rockets two days earlier when the Rockets scored 60 points in the paint (two days after they scored 78). So, the Pelicans packed the paint with defenders and the Rockets charged into crowds, anyway.
As the first half progressed, the Rockets moved the ball as if it was made of lead. They had five assists in the half. But their biggest issue offensively was when they forced the ball into packs of bodies, running into traps with no escape and drawing offensive fouls.
The usual numbers problem was an issue. While the Rockets made three 3s in the half, the Pelicans went 10 of 20 from deep. But the Rockets were just 9 of 18 in the paint, getting outscored by 10 points where they usually have and nearly always need an advantage.
They finished with just 34 points in the paint, a number reduced in part because of how often they drew fouls and went to the line. But they also needed to get more inside, since they could not outside.