They were the fittest team in the League in March, with an exceptional record of 13 wins and 2 defeats. Better still, they had revived interest in the race for the “play-in” in the Western Conference by going to tickle the Warriors, even the Lakers and the Kings. But, alas, since the beginning of April, things have been grimacing for the Rockets!
Defeated for the fifth time in a row last night, after overtime in the Texas derby against Dallas, when they had two shots from Jabari Smith Jr. to seal the fate of the match, Houston is officially eliminated from the race for the “play- in”, and therefore to the playoffs…
A 22-point lead wasted…
After leading by 22 points in the first half, and another 8 in the last quarter, the Rockets collapsed in money time, despite a 3-pointer in the corner from former Mavs player Reggie. Bullock…
“At the moment, there’s probably not much good to come out of this match”affirmed a necessarily disappointed VanVleet (of having missed a crucial throw) in the Houston Chronicle. “It was a high-level match, with big shots. But, in the end, we still found a way to lose. Usually you find ways to win. But there, we gave them the match. It hurts ! »
It hurts all the more because the Rockets, with a 3-point advantage on the final possession (Exum's 3-point equalizer), just had to make a mistake and force the Mavs to succeed in their throws.
“After 80 matches, we must know what we are doing”
“There was a bit of confusion”recognizes Bullock. “We obviously should have made a mistake but we let it play. We made their best player drop the ball. But that left Dante wide open and he put his shot in. »
Already guilty of the same mistake against OKC, with Amen Thompson who did not foul Jalen Williams, the young Rockets once again lacked composure in heated moments. “These last eight seconds, we would love to replay them”whispered Coach Udoka.
Still too mentally fragile, the Rockets are at 22 defeats for 16 victories in matches decided by a margin of five points or less this season (compared to a very nice 23-9 from the Mavs). That's barely better than five teams: Detroit, Washington, Charlotte, San Antonio and Toronto which occupy the bottom of the rankings.
“We are a team that makes mistakes if we are +3 on the last possession. Always “, concludes Udoka. “The opponent obviously has to make the throws in this situation. But I'm not going to yell at the team for fouling. We have to know what we're doing. I relayed it to several players, we had to make a mistake. We did it all year. As a coach, I make mistakes every time. We would have liked our veterans to take on this responsibility. After 80 games, we have to know what we are doing. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Alperen Sengun | 63 | 32.5 | 53.7 | 29.7 | 69.3 | 2.9 | 6.4 | 9.3 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 21.1 |
| Jalen Green | 77 | 31.8 | 42.5 | 33.3 | 80.4 | 0.5 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 19.9 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 70 | 36.6 | 41.2 | 37.9 | 86.5 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 8.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 16.7 |
| Jabari Smith, Jr. | 71 | 31.7 | 45.4 | 36.3 | 83.0 | 1.9 | 6.4 | 8.2 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 13.8 |
| Dillon Brooks | 68 | 30.8 | 42.6 | 35.4 | 84.1 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 3.2 | 12.6 |
| Cam Whitmore | 42 | 18.3 | 45.8 | 36.1 | 66.3 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 12.3 |
| Tari Eason | 22 | 21.8 | 46.6 | 36.0 | 63.6 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 7.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 9.8 |
| Amen Thompson | 57 | 21.6 | 52.3 | 14.3 | 67.2 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 6.4 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 9.2 |
| Aaron Holiday | 74 | 16.2 | 44.2 | 39.2 | 91.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.5 |
| Jeff Green | 73 | 16.7 | 46.2 | 33.8 | 81.1 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 6.4 |
| Jock Landale | 51 | 12.6 | 49.4 | 22.6 | 82.4 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 4.3 |
| Jae'sean Tate | 65 | 15.9 | 47.2 | 29.9 | 66.7 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 4.1 |
| Nathaniel Hinton | 12 | 4.9 | 45.5 | 58.3 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.6 |
| Nate Williams, Jr. | 20 | 5.4 | 51.2 | 25.0 | 70.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Boban Marjanovic | 13 | 4.5 | 46.2 | 0.0 | 72.7 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 |
| Reggie Bullock | 39 | 9.4 | 39.5 | 38.7 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.2 |
| Jermaine Samuels | 12 | 4.5 | 69.2 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
