Defensive lapses tell tale of skid
The Rockets had come all the way back, turning a 20-point deficit into a five-point lead. They found their defense hiding somewhere in Toyota Center, shut down the Hawks for most of a quarter and rode the sensational play of Jabari Smith Jr. and Fred VanVleet to an avalanche of momentum.
Then the fourth quarter started.
After a Garrison Mathews 3, backup Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu slipped a screen, got behind Alperen Şengün and slammed home an alleyoop dunk. Next possession, Okongwu slipped a screen, got behind Şengün and slammed home an alley-oop dunk. Next possession, Okongwu slipped a screen, got behind Şengün and slammed home an alley-oop dunk.
The Hawks needed 2:12 to start the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run. The Rockets were never the same.
The Rockets’ 134-127 loss to Atlanta that ended their 11-game home winning streak Wednesday night was not because of a twominute flurry of dunks.
They had given up 77 points in the first half, more than in any previous game this season. They did not stop the Hawks after the Okongwu slamfest, either. But the series of breakdowns stacked one on top of another vividly displayed the Rockets’ sudden inability to execute defensively.
In the past three games, the Rockets have allowed an average of 134.3 points, more than they had given up in any previous game this season, on 50.5% shooting and 41.4% 3-point shooting.
The Hawks spent the first half sinking wideopen 3s. They spent the fourth quarter slicing up the Rockets with pick-and-rolls run exactly as they always run them — and as Atlanta center Clint Capela did during much of his time with the Rockets.
“Slipping out of screens (is) what we talked about before the game and at shootaround and at halftime,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Ninety percent of the time, they slipped out of screens. It’s something we worked on and talked about.”
Though the breakdowns have been different in the three losses over four days, they have come with the Rockets repeatedly failing to execute a defensive game plan against plays they knew were coming. On Wednesday, they showed they could have.
“The defense let up, obviously,” Udoka said. “Obviously, we guarded, (giving up) a 21-point third quarter, by far our best, and showed we could guard and get out and run our offense … just to give it away at the start (of the fourth) like that.
“Take Fred (VanVleet) out of the game, we kind of fall off a cliff.”
For most of the night, as with the losses at Milwaukee and Cleveland, the Rockets’ defense was not as aggressive or physical as it had been, adding the tactical mistakes that got the Hawks going in the first place. The secondranked defense in the NBA following last Friday’s win in Memphis has ranked 29th in the past three games, giving up 10 more points per 100 possessions than any team has this season.
“It’s hard enough as is, but especially when you let a team get comfortable, let them play free and easy, let them get wide-open looks,” VanVleet said. “They’re a good offensive team, a good shooting team, but we didn’t make it tough on them at all. We kind of made it pretty easy on them.
“Our switches were a little loose. We weren’t able to get into the bodies and dictate.”
The lack of defense wasted the 32 points and 15 assists the Rockets got from VanVleet, who logged 44 minutes as Udoka finds it increasingly difficult to rest the player who plays more than anyone else in the NBA.
It wasted the 13 points Dillon Brooks scored in the fourth quarter, giving him 19 and offering the Rockets a chance in the final minutes to steal a win.
Most of all, it wasted a performance Smith said was his best in the NBA. He set career highs for points (34), free throws (14 on 14 attempts) and blocked shots (four), adding a game-high 13 rebounds.
“Just got hot and tried to find my shot,” Smith said. “My teammates kept finding me. So it was fun.
“Just coming out with that energy, coming out, playing mad. That’s something I’ve got to be consistent with.”
Smith said his father pointed out that he needed to improve his follow through, showing video of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Smith made 8-of-14 shots, including 4-of-7 3s, and joined Anthony Davis (twice), Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic as the only players to produce 34 points with at least 13 rebounds, four 3-pointers and four blocked shots in a game.
Smith and VanVleet combined to sink all 23 free throws the Rockets attempted, matching the franchise record for makes without a miss.
Smith had scored just five points in two of the previous three games before he offered Wednesday’s reminder of what he can do.
Still, the Rockets have averaged 125.3 points in the past three games, 14 more than they average this season, and they know their issues remain with sudden shortcomings in areas that had been strengths.
“(We) had some guys scoring, but not enough on the defensive end or toughness end as far as 50/50 balls and offensive rebounds (allowed),” Udoka said. “That’s just one end of it — scoring. Obviously, we have to continue to guard the way we have this year. The last three games, we haven’t done that at all.”
They did it in the third quarter. The Rockets did not rally with a wave of spectacular shooting they could not have expected to last. They defended as they had most of this season, showing they still can but making it more frustrating when they didn’t.
“That third (quarter) looked like us,” VanVleet said. “You usually ride that momentum out, most games. If there was something spectacular we were doing, that got us back in the game, maybe. But we just kind of buckled up and played a good third. And then to start the fourth, I think those three baskets kind of deflated us. It kind of flipped right back that fast. We just didn’t execute, made a lot of mistakes. So this one’s on us.”