Taking advantage of an uninspired Nikola Jokic, the Rockets were heading towards a first away victory, after eight losses in a row. Especially after a perfect start to the second half. In the space of sixteen minutes, the Texans scored 51 points. They take a 25-point lead eight minutes from the end, and at the same time, Jokic comes back into play when the match is almost over.
“We could have been more solid in defense and concluded”notes Jalen Green for the Houston Chronicle, as if to summarize what will follow. Because the Nuggets will go 18-0 in five minutes to shake Ime Udoka and his players.
The minutes then become very long for the Rockets, who can no longer find their way to the circle. And even Alperen Sengun misses twice in a row on free throws.
“We must remain calm” explained the coach to his players during this zone of turbulence. “During this sequence, we missed free throws and defenses. Then we calmed down, we shot and we increased our physical intensity. If we put aside these five minutes, this is one of our best matches of the season. »
Winning after being pushed: a good experience
We must therefore see the glass half full because resisting the comeback of the reigning champions is a good sign for these young Rockets, who had recently had big heads.
“This is a big step forward. This gives us confidence, assurance: we can win away. We can find solutions for this, despite what happened in the last quarter,” believes Dillon Brooks. “We improve and we learn”continues Sengun. “We could have won a few away matches if we had concluded. We gained experience and, although they came back, we finished well. This is a good thing. »
Jalen Green is especially relieved by the result, by this first success of the season away from Houston. “I think we played better matches in defense, but it’s an away victory”concludes the rear, author of 25 points in Colorado.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Alperen Sengun | 18 | 32.8 | 54.4 | 30.6 | 64.6 | 2.6 | 6.4 | 9.0 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 21.0 |
| Jalen Green | 18 | 31.5 | 42.4 | 34.9 | 79.1 | 0.4 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 18.8 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 17 | 37.7 | 38.6 | 38.0 | 90.2 | 0.3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 9.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 16.2 |
| Dillon Brooks | 18 | 31.2 | 48.4 | 42.7 | 83.7 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 13.8 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 18 | 30.3 | 50.5 | 36.6 | 75.0 | 1.6 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 12.9 |
| Aaron Holiday | 16 | 18.7 | 50.0 | 43.5 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 7.4 |
| Tari Eason | 11 | 18.3 | 45.5 | 40.0 | 61.5 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 6.9 |
| Amen Thompson | 4 | 16.7 | 40.9 | 18.2 | 62.5 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 6.3 |
| Jeff Green | 17 | 14.5 | 54.0 | 33.3 | 76.5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 5.9 |
| Jae'sean Tate | 17 | 18.3 | 49.3 | 34.4 | 80.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 5.5 |
| Cam Whitmore | 5 | 6.4 | 46.7 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 4.0 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 3 | 6.7 | 55.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 4 | 5.4 | 54.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.3 |
| Nathaniel Hinton | 4 | 4.1 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| Jock Landale | 13 | 8.7 | 34.6 | 20.0 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Reggie Bullock | 9 | 9.2 | 33.3 | 30.8 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| Jermaine Samuels | 5 | 5.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
