The last time the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Houston Rockets, the teams turned in an epic season opener.
The Thunder ultimately came out ahead 125-124 in double overtime Oct. 21.
The teams meet again Saturday in Oklahoma City.
The Rockets have dropped back-to-back games after winning five of their previous six, leaving Ime Udoka frustrated with his team’s performance in home losses to Boston and Charlotte.
“Teams basically looking like they’re coming in and playing harder and they’re looking at that mentality that, ‘If we play harder than them, we’ll beat them,'” Udoka said after Houston’s 109-99 loss to the Hornets on Thursday. “There’s no fight, there’s no aggression, just blank stares.
“In the past, if we didn’t win or weren’t going to win, at least we would get into it, do something about it. Right now, it’s the same mistakes over and over.”
Udoka said he needed to see a spark from the entire team, not looking specifically to leaders like Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun to fix the team’s recent issues.
“The guys that are here have done it for the last few years,” Udoka said. “It’s not one guy, it’s the group in general. The players started the year doing it and, until recently, at least had that. It’s not like one guy’s going to do it, it’s collective.”
Sengun, who scored 39 in that season-opening loss to Oklahoma City, shot just 36.3% from the field over the last six games after shooting 51.8% through his first 37 games of the season.
Udoka said it wasn’t an issue of shot selection.
“Decent shots, the shots he’s made since I’ve been here. Getting good looks there,” Udoka said. “That’s not the problem. Players allow their offense to dictate their game in general and … give something away on defense when you’re not as engaged because you’re not scoring. It’s not just an Alperen thing.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault hasn’t worried about his team’s effort recently, especially in Wednesday’s 10-point loss in San Antonio.
The Thunder stayed within striking distance of the Spurs despite having none of their normal five starters available and dressing only eight players.
“They gutted it out and played hard, played their minutes hard,” Daigneault said. “There’s no moral victories there but there are things we can take from everything. … But certainly, we’re not content.”
One thing Daigneault said his team took from the game was working on Jaylin Williams’ conditioning.
Williams, who missed much of December and early January due to injury, scored 24 points in a career-high 40 minutes Wednesday.
“I was tired,” Williams said.
Though the Thunder figure to have some reinforcements back against the Rockets, they’ll still remain without two of their biggest pieces — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
Gilgeous-Alexander is out until after the All-Star break with an abdominal injury, while Williams hasn’t played since Jan. 17 after suffering a thigh injury.
Starters Chet Holmgren (back), Isaiah Hartenstein (eye) and Luguentz Dort (knee) also missed the loss in San Antonio, as did rotational players Alex Caruso (adductor), and Ajay Mitchell (abdomen).
Of that group, only Mitchell missed Tuesday’s 128-92 win over the Orlando Magic.
–Field Level Media
