After four consecutive non-playoff campaigns entering this season, the Houston Rockets stand to benefit from their surprising appearance in the NBA Cup semifinals, a run that concluded with a 111-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder last Saturday in Las Vegas.
Houston will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday aiming to maintain the momentum generated by stellar play over the first roughly one-third of the schedule. Another benefit to their NBA Cup performances was the break in the schedule, which allowed the Rockets to play in only three games since Dec. 8 before the Pelicans pay their visit to Houston.
“It’s always beneficial this early in the season,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of the break. “We’ve been relatively healthy and that’s a good sign. We want to stay that way; we’ve seen how injured some teams have been in the league.
“For us, it’s a little bit of an odd schedule with the three-day breaks then back-to-back games, and then two-day breaks coming up. It’s a chance to get some practice in and review what we’ve done well and not so well up to this point. Some lulls at times that we’re trying to improve on but there are also good signs that when we’re not playing our best we can still win games.”
The Rockets’ primary weakness thus far has been their shooting. Houston entered Wednesday tied with the Pelicans for 28th in the NBA in field goal percentage overall (43.7 percent) and 28th alone from behind the 3-point line (32.2 percent). The Rockets are second only to the Thunder in defensive rating, but their offense has been erratic and inefficient, yielding a constant search to maximize their youth and athleticism.
“You play faster, you play against less set defenses and you get up and down, you get easier baskets,” Udoka said. “The jump shots are the jump shots; a lot of those are pretty wide open and we’re getting great looks as far as that so you have to knock those down at a higher rate.”
Fourth-year pro Jalen Green, 22, leads the Rockets in scoring at 19 points per game. Center Alperen Sengun is averaging a double-double with 18.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
The Pelicans’ 119-104 road loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday was their 13th defeat in the past 14 games. New Orleans is mired in the Western Conference cellar, undone by a spate of injuries that have ravaged their rotation and thrust inexperienced players into the spotlight. Among those out are forwards Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (ankle) and guard Jose Alvarado (hamstring).
“It’s definitely some challenges involved when we’re shorthanded,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “And I think guys feel that. They feel that the margin for error is super small. We’ve got to take care of the ball. You’ve got to make shots. You’ve got to get stops and convert when we turn other teams over. It’s definitely some challenges when you’re shuffling lineups and you’re trying to get guys acclimated with playing with each other.”
“But it’s a part of the adversity we have to go through in the NBA. It’s also an opportunity for guys to step up and play some larger roles.”
–Field Level Media
