Making the Play-In Tournament is the ultimate goal for the Houston Rockets, which means taking advantage of winnable games. This did not happen Wednesday night.
The Rockets concluded their three-game homestand with a match against the Portland Trailblazers. Facing one of the league's weaker teams, Houston fell to the Blazers, culminating in a dramatic overtime forced by Jerami Grant's off-balance, buzzer-beating three-pointer over Fred VanVleet.
The momentum shifted decisively towards Portland in overtime, outscoring Houston 13-7 and sealing a 137-131 defeat for the Rockets, arguably their worst loss this season. Now three games below .500, the Rockets' play-in chances are diminishing.
Poor shooting defense
The Blazers, known for the league's worst shooting percentage at 43.6% and 22nd in three point percentage (35.8%), shot 51.0% from the field and 42.9% from deep against the Rockets. Former first overall pick DeAndre Ayton, who is having his worst career year this season, notched a mean 18-point, 17-rebound double double with two blocks. Simply put, the Rockets didn't put much of a fight on the defensive end.
A winnable game
It wasn't a neck and neck game from the jump. The Rockets took control during most of the first half, leading as many as 13 points in the middle of the second quarter. Jalen Green, who has struggled mostly all season, had one of his better first halves, scoring nineteen points on 7-of-14 shooting. Alperen Sengun was right behind him, scoring in double figures.
The Rockets as a team were up by six at halftime, looking to run away with the game in the second half. This didn't happen, of course, as the Blazers came back, scoring a total of 41 points in the third quarter. Moreover, the Rockets perimeter defense gave up eight threes in the third quarter alone, with three of them going to Mattise Thybulle, who isn't typically known for his offense.
Anfernee Simons also added sixteen points to the Blazers third quarter onslaught, tallying in 33 total points for the game.
“To give up 41 in that third quarter, it was an embarrassment,” Coach Ime Udoka said during the postgame, citing the poor defensive effort from his players.
Houston was unable to get the ball rolling on the offensive end either in the second half. Fred VanVleet had too many touches and exhibited stagnant ball movement within the Rockets offense, which led to milking the shot clock and chucking the basketball from deep before the clock expired.
This was especially questionable in the fourth, when Udoka elected to sit backup guard Amen Thompson out throughout the entire quarter and played both VanVleet and Aaron Holiday all twelve minutes.
Familiar territory
While the Rockets recovered with a small lead down to the final minutes thanks to Alperen Sengun taking over, Portland came back each time and continued to appear within striking distance. This was especially apparent when Portland was down by four points with three seconds left in regulation. All of a sudden, Malcolm Brogdon sunk a three pointer from the corner cutting the lead to a point with 2.2 seconds left. This gave the Blazers plenty of time to tie the game in the next possession after the Rockets shot their free throws.
The scenario of Houston up by a possession in the final seconds against Portland brings up familiar scenarios fans would like to forget, dating back to the infamous Damian Lillard buzzer beater shot in the 2014 playoffs. As the saying goes, history does repeat itself. Up by three, Udoka elected to sub in 7'3 Boban Marjanovic to guard the inbound pass.
This didn't work, as the basketball found the hands of Jerami Grant. With VanVleet deciding not to foul, Grant knocked down a clutch three pointer off the glass over him to tie the game in the process. Even though the Rockets had a chance to make up for themselves in overtime, it was pretty much over after this unbelievable shot.
Going back to the drawing board
Houston clearly has holes to fix: Bench depth, perimeter defense, and a backup center. With multiple guys in Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason being out, it was expected the roster would be shorthanded. But they're facing the Blazers, not a team like the Boston Celtics. Portland is a team Houston is expected to win.
The once 13-9 Rockets with the second best defense is a stark contract from the following 21 games, going 7-14 in the process. The recent performances since the month of January may conclude that they might not quite be Play-In ready. Nevertheless, with halfway left of the season, there's still a chance. From this loss, Houston will go on a short two-game road trip against below mediocre teams in the Charlotte Hornets on Friday and the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday in a back-to-back.
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