At the start of the second period, the Rockets confirm their domination over the Magic. Kevin Porter Jr. just dunked and gave Houston a 15-point lead. Jamahl Mosley therefore takes a time-out to stop the bleeding.
The Magic coach then makes the decision to change defense, and to opt for an area in an attempt to thwart the Rockets.
A totally successful bet: in the next five minutes, the Floridians pass a 17-2 and equalize! The Rockets become drafts, with five lost balls and an awful 1/9 to shoot.
“We did not find the right formula in attack. We didn’t play well against the area.”notes Alperen Sengun for the Houston Chronicle. “This is the area”replies Jalen Green when asked why he shot so little late in the game. “We tried to find the holes, to spin the ball, that everyone participates. »
In 29 possessions against the zone defense, the Rockets will only score 20 points and in the last twenty minutes of the game, they will lose 11 balls.
Missed shots and stray bullets, this bad cocktail will weigh down Houston and revive Orlando.
“We tried to put the ball in the middle, to play the pick-and-roll, to play on the weak side”analyzes Stephen Silas. “We got what we wanted, but we couldn’t execute every time. We were undecided about the zone. »
These indecisions will sometimes force the Rockets to rush at the end of possession, facing a 24-second clock that is ending. “We were static”, regrets Kevin Porter Jr, one of the few to have weighed offensively in the second act. “This area, it was not much. We knew exactly what they were doing, we weren’t moving fast enough. We were too slow to attack him. »
The Rockets coach still found another explanation for the defeat of these troops and this failed second half: the defense. “We conceded 62 points. We had to stop.” he would have hoped.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jalen Green | 30 | 34.3 | 40.9 | 31.0 | 79.7 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 21.3 |
| Kevin Porter, Jr. | 29 | 34.2 | 41.5 | 30.9 | 77.0 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 18.4 |
| Alperen Sengun | 27 | 26.5 | 54.2 | 18.2 | 79.6 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 8.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 14.4 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 29 | 30.3 | 37.6 | 34.1 | 83.1 | 1.3 | 5.9 | 7.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 11.9 |
| Eric Gordon | 26 | 29.4 | 42.4 | 35.5 | 85.2 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 11.6 |
| Kj Martin | 30 | 24.0 | 54.9 | 30.4 | 62.3 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 10.5 |
| Tari Eason | 30 | 18.9 | 43.0 | 36.7 | 83.3 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 5.3 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 8.6 |
| Jae’sean Tate | 3 | 22.7 | 50.0 | 40.0 | 75.0 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 8.3 |
| Garrison Mathews | 24 | 13.4 | 38.4 | 37.0 | 93.5 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 5.2 |
| Bruno Fernando | 13 | 11.7 | 60.5 | 0.0 | 61.1 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 4.8 |
| Tyty Washington, Jr. | 5 | 8.1 | 60.0 | 16.7 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 4.0 |
| Daishen Nix | 27 | 15.4 | 35.8 | 32.3 | 78.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 3.8 |
| Usman Garuba | 28 | 14.8 | 50.7 | 50.0 | 53.6 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 |
| Trevor Hudgins | 1 | 3.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Josh Christopher | 18 | 7.0 | 44.0 | 21.4 | 83.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 2.9 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 10 | 3.8 | 63.6 | 0.0 | 77.8 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
