The Houston Rockets may no longer be the hottest team in the NBA after a disappointing 125-107 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Easter Sunday. Luka Doncic dazzled in his performance, finishing with 47 points, 32 of which came in the first half, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. His teammate, Kyrie Irving, contributed 24 points and 7 assists, helping the Mavs secure their seventh consecutive win and halt the Rockets’ 11-game winning streak.
Jabri Smith led Houston in scoring with 28 points, but their emerging star Jalen Green, who has been scorching as of late, was held to 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Luckily for the Rockets, their pursuit of the postseason is still alive – if not the playoffs, most definitely the play-in game.
Houston (38-36) only trails two games behind the Golden State Warriors (40-34) in the win-loss column, but it is technically three because The Warriors hold the tie-breaker, for the 10th seed. They’re four games behind the Los Angeles Lakers (42-33) for the 9th seed. The race for the postseason will be tough. The Lakers are playing well; LeBron James just dropped a 40 ball on Easter Sunday and tied his career high by going 9 of 10 from 3-point line, while the Warriors are riding a four-game winning streak despite claims of their dynasty being at the end-of-an-era. If any of those two teams slip and the Rockets get back to taking off (pun intended) then Houston could see themselves in the postseason for the first time since 2019-2020 – the post-James Harden era.
So, what’s been going well for the new-look Rockets team? For one, Alperen Sengun has established himself as a solid player with all-star potential. The 7-foot Turkish big man made an incredible leap this year. He’s averaging a career-best 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5 assists per game this season. Not to mention, he turns 22 years old this summer! Sengun has missed most of the Rockets’ hot streak due to a Grade 3 right ankle sprain suffered on March 10, but they were warming up with him in the lineup. Before he went down, the Rockets were riding a two-game win streak, and other players were beginning to step their games up, which brings me to my next point.
With Sengun, the team’s then-leading scorer sidelined, Green’s game has erupted. Before the streak, Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, averaged 17.6 points per game, but during the 11-game win streak, he had been averaging 29.8 points per game, including several high-scoring games such as two 40-plus point games and two 37-point games. His outstanding performance led to him being named Western Conference Player of the Week for March 11-17. The 22-year-old averaged 24.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game that week, leading the Rockets to a 3-0 record. The Rockets just lost, obviously, and he played poorly, but if he goes back to playing like he did during the streak, the Rockets’ postseason chances are promising.
Another player who has stepped up is Amen Thompson, who the Rockets picked fourth in last year’s draft. There is a slight mystique to Thompson’s game because he may be unfamiliar to the average NBA fan, probably because he didn’t go to college, play overseas, or play in the G-League as Green did. In fact, Thompson took an unconventional route to the NBA. He and his identical twin brother, Asuar Thompson, played in the Overtime Elite League, a professional high school league for the best 16-20-year-olds worldwide. Some were skeptical about the level of competition in the OTE league, but it’s safe to say that the Thompson twins were NBA-ready.
But since Sengun’s injury and Thompson’s insertion into the starting lineup, fans have been witnessing his potential. Thompson, a 6-foot-7 guard/forward, is wiry-strong, athletic, and has elite defensive abilities. He is also rebounding at a high level and making plays for others. During the winning streak, Thompson has been a staff stuffer. The 21-year-old has arguably been the Rockets’ best all-around player. He is averaging 15.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in his last 10 games, with four double-digit rebounding games, including a career-high 15 rebounds in the win against the Thunder.
Despite the Rockets’ recent loss, the team is still playing its best basketball. The key is to brush this loss off, return to winning and possibly get healthy. According to TheDreamshake.com, a platform dedicated to keeping Rockets’ fans updated, there is no timetable for Sengun’s return, but Houston’s head coach Ime Udoka, said before the loss to Dallas that if Sengun was to return, then “It would be a good problem to have,” if there would be a problem incorporating him back into the lineup.
As far as returning to its most recent winning ways, the Rockets have eight tough games left beginning on April 2 as they travel to Minnesota for a one-game road trip against the third-seeded Timberwolves led by its electrifying young star Anthony Edwards.
Then the Rockets return home to face the Warriors in an obvious must-win game. Golden State will be extra motivated to win that game, not only in hopes of securing their postseason spot but because the Rockets injured forward, Tari Eason, posted an Instagram story celebrating the Rockets’ 10th straight win, calling out Golden State telling the Warriors to “come out to play-ay-ay.”
Warriors’ Draymond Green since then responded on his “The Draymond Green Show” podcast. “Why would he come out and make a video telling the Warriors to come and play?” Green asked. “Everyone in Houston had a heart attack when he did that.”
He continued, “It’s kind of tough to come out yelling, ‘Come out and play’ and you’re not going to play.”
Also in the remaining eight games, the Rockets have a rematch against the Mavs, Magic, Heat, Clippers –all playoff teams– and the Trailblazers and Jazz.
The 11-game winning streak helped the Rockets tremendously, but if they want to make the postseason, this will be the most important stretch of the season. We will see how it plays out starting on Tuesday.
