Rockets' Ime Udoka admits embarrassment after brutal Blazers loss

The Rockets fell apart late in their loss to the Blazers, leading to an eye-opening Ime Udoka admission after the game.

For most of their Wednesday night contest against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Houston Rockets were the better team. But they ended up giving up 41 third quarter points to allow Portland back into the game, and a last-second three from Jerami Grant in the fourth forced overtime, where the Blazers would eventually end up winning. Unsurprisingly, Ime Udoka wasn't too happy after this one.

It's been tough sledding for the Rockets as of late, as they have now lost five of their past six games to push their record three games below .500. This loss in particular to Portland was particularly crushing considering how close Houston was to winning, and when looking back on the game, Udoka pointed out the third quarter as a sore spot, labeling the frame an “embarrassment” for his young squad.

Via Jackson Gatlin:

“Ime Udoka said it was an 'embarrassment' to give up 41 points in the third quarter.”

Ime Udoka's ‘frustrating' truth bomb from Rockets collapse

Allowing 41 points in a quarter is never a good thing, especially when it comes at the hands of a Trail Blazers team that is one of the worst in the league. Despite that, Houston had a chance to win this game, as they simply needed to not allow Portland to hit a game-tying three at the end of the fourth. Of course, they allowed just that to happen, which led to Udoka labeling this loss one of the most frustrating of the season afterwards.

Via Jackson Gatlin:

“Asked Ime Udoka if this was the Rockets most frustrating loss of the season: ‘We've had a few frustrating ones for sure. Everybody's pissed off in there.'”

These sorts of losses can be true back-breakers, and the Rockets are going to have to find a way to bounce back from this, or else their recent spiral could continue to get worse and worse. They will have a shot to get back in the win column against another inferior opponent on Friday night against the Charlotte Hornets, and it will be vital that Udoka has his team ready to go out and get a win, or else they could find themselves in some real trouble moving forward.