by yeahnah on Tue May 10, 2022 2:34 pm
Game Seventeen
Houston Rockets (7-9) @ New Orleans Pelicans (10-6)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
De’Aaron Fox | Donte DiVincenzo | Jimmy Butler | Wendell Carter Jr | Montrezl Harrell | 6th: Dwight Powell
HOU | 36 | 32 | 28 | 24 | 120
NOP | 25 | 23 | 33 | 36 | 117
- The Houston Rockets narrowly avoided a complete capitulation as they tried their best to blow a 20 point lead against the Pels
- It was the D’Lo vs De’Aaron show as both guards exploded for 40 bombs in an entertaining contest. Russell was able to knock down a pair of clutch free throws to ensure he won the shootout, and the game
- This breaks a losing skid for the Rockets however they are yet to show they are truly capable of competing with the best teams in the league. They have seven games remaining until the trade deadline and it will be interesting to see if they make any moves to bolster their roster before then
Russell: 46pts, 4ast
J. Allen: 20pts, 8reb, 5blk
Gilgeous-Alexander: 12pts, 12ast
Fox: 44pts, 5reb, 4ast, 2stl
Butler: 23pts, 5ast
DiVincenzo: 18pts, 7ast
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - Russell, 2 - J. Allen, 1 - Gilgeous-Alexander
Game Eighteen
Houston Rockets (8-9) @ Miami Heat (7-8)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
Ja Morant | Caris LeVert | Alex Burks | Tobias Harris | Christian Wood | 6th: Thomas Bryant
HOU | 28 |25 | 27 | 30 | 110
MIA | 26 | 18 | 18 | 34 | 96
- The Rockets were firing on all cylinders as they cruised to a win against an underperforming Heat side. When Jarrett Allen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and D’Angelo Russell are all dominant like they were tonight, Houston are a near impossible side to beat.
- Allen (6) and Achiuwa (3) continued to prove themselves to be perhaps the best shot blocking front court in the NBA
- Harrison Barnes, Grayson Allen and John Konchar continued to prove ineffective for the Rockets, who have some very tough decisions to make before the trade dealing as they look to bolster their role players
J. Allen: 24pts, 14reb, 2stl, 6blk
Gilgeous-Alexander: 23pts, 5reb, 9ast
Russell: 22pts, 4reb, 8ast, 2stl, 1blk
LeVert: 21pts
Morant: 18pts, 5reb, 4ast
Harris: 5pts, 14reb
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - J. Allen, 2 - Gilgeous-Alexander, 1 - Russell
Game Nineteen
Houston Rockets (9-9) @ Boston Celtics (8-6)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
Ricky Rubio | Devin Booker | T.J. Warren | Jae’Sean Tate | Pascal Siakam | 6th: Jalen Smith
HOU | 30 | 28 | 24 | 32 | 114
BOS | 29 | 26 | 33 | 29 | 117
- How do you stop Devin Booker? The Celtics star dropped 51 - including the game winning three
- Inefficient nights for SGA and D’Lo meant the Rockets dropped a match that they realistically should have stormed home in comfortably.
- Stronger production off the bench meant the Rockets relied less on their starters but we are still yet to see a night where everyone in Clutch City is firing together.
- Houston have five more tough games before the all-star break and need to win as many as possible if they are serious about playoff basketball this year
Gilgeous-Alexander: 24pts, 8ast
J. Allen: 18pts, 17reb
Achiuwa: 16pts, 10reb, 3blk
Gallinari: 15pts
Booker: 51pts, 7reb, 3ast
Ibaka: 16pts, 6reb
Rubio: 7pts, 7reb, 6ast, 1stl
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - J. Allen, 2 - Achiuwa, 1 - Gilgeous-Alexander
Game Twenty
Houston Rockets (9-10) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (10-7)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
Ben Simmons | Jordan Poole | Talen Horton-Tucker | Draymond Green | Joel Embiid | 6th: Lauri Markkanen
HOU | 26 | 24 | 12 | 32 | 94
MIN | 22 | 28 | 33 | 25 | 108
- The Timberwolves were easily the toughest matchup the Rockets have faced this year. Despite keeping it close at half time, the defensive prowess of the Wolves was on show in the third that set up an easy win for Minnesota.
- If the Rockets can make the playoffs, the T’Wolves are easily number one on the list of teams you don’t want to come up against.
- Houston now stumble to 9-11 on the season and need to make a run through their last nine games if they want to be in the action come playoff time.
Russell: 22pts
Barnes: 18pts, 3reb
Green: 14pts, 4ast
J. Allen: 12pts, 15reb, 6ast, 3blk
Embiid: 26pts, 14reb
Simmons: 20pts, 12reb, 10ast
Hardaway Jr: 13pts
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - Green, 2 - J. Allen, 1 - Barnes
Game Twenty One
Chicago Bulls (14-2) @ Houston Rockets (9-11)
Fred VanVleet | Zach LaVine | Dillon Brooks | Al Horford | Andre Drummond | 6th: Patrick Beverley
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
CHI | 23 | 31 | 20 | 25 | 99
HOU | 21 | 28 | 33 | 24 | 106
- The Bulls were handed just the third loss of the season as D’Angelo Russell led the Rockets to an upset. A huge third quarter run was the difference between the two sides despite a late Chicago comeback in the last
- Jalen Green starred with 14 points in the third quarter to set up the dub for Houston
- Another quiet night for Shai who is expected to explode for a huge night any minute now after a lean run of form
Russell: 44pts, 3ast
Green: 18pts, 5ast
Achiuwa: 6pts, 14reb, 5ast, 2blk
J. Allen: 6pts, 11reb, 6blk
LaVine: 35pts, 5reb, 4ast
VanVleet: 20pts, 4ast
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - Russell, 2 - Achiuwa, 1 - Green
Game Twenty Two
Houston Rockets (10-11) @ Indiana Pacers (5-10)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
Luka Doncic | Cade Cunningham | Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot | Keldon Johnson | Steven Adams | 6th: Jaxson Hayes
HOU | 18 | 29 | 19 | 34 | 100
IND | 28 | 26 | 25 | 34 | 113
- The Rockets’ playoff aspirations took another hit today as a poor offensive showing led to a tough loss in Indiana as the dynamic duo of Luka and Cade starred.
- Foul trouble for SGA set the tone for a rough night for Houston as they continue to struggle finding production from their role players. Grayson Allen shot 1-11 from the field as he saw an uptick in minutes
Russell: 26pts, 5reb, 5ast
J. Allen: 24pts, 11reb, 3stl, 5blk
Doncic: 40pts, 16reb, 7ast
Cunningham: 27pts, 6reb, 2blk
Adams: 16reb
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - J. Allen, 2 - Russell, 1 - Green
Game Twenty Three
Portland Trail Blazers (9-13) @ Houston Rockets (10-12)
Cole Anthony | Jaylen Brown | Anthony Edwards | Chimezie Metu | Myles Turner | 6th: Evan Fournier
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
POR | 20 | 34 | 36 | 32 | 32 | 122
HOU | 22 | 17 | 31 | 34 | 104
- Despite a monster night from Jarrett Allen, the Rockets made their journey to the playoffs even more unlikely as they were monstered by a young and hungry Portland side
- Houston’s guards went missing as no one could help their star big man, culminating in a 17 point second quarter that they could never recover from.
- With just one game left until the All-Star Break, what will the Rockets do? Is it time to push for a playoff berth or put their stars on ice and run it back next year?
J. Allen: 21pts, 17reb, 3ast, 1stl, 4blk
Green: 15pts, 5reb, 4ast
Brown: 30pts, 9reb, 4ast
Edwards: 22pts, 4reb
Anthony: 14pts, 8reb, 8ast
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - J. Allen, 2 - Green, 1 - Barnes
Game Twenty Four
Washington Wizards (14-12) @ Houston Rockets (10-13)
Stephen Curry | Josh Giddey | Josh Hart | Rui Hachimura | Jonas Valanciunas | 6th: Reggie Jackson
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | D'Angelo Russell | Harrison Barnes | Precious Achiuwa | Jarrett Allen | 6th: Jalen Green
WAS | 40 | 37 | 44 | 26 | 147
HOU | 33 | 36 | 53 | 35 | 157
- Defence was not the order of the day as Houston sent a statement to the rest of the league that they are not ready to give up on their playoff dreams.
- This momentum raising win leaves the Rockets a game and a half out of the 8 seed however they are a still behind the 10th placed (and rising) Spurs vying to gain a play-in opportunity
- What a way for SGA to silence his doubters as he showed up Steph Curry on his way to the dub.
Curry: 51pts, 7reb, 4ast
Yurtseven: 23pts, 8 reb
Duarte: 21pts, 5ast
Gilgeous-Alexander: 43pts, 4reb, 9ast, 2blk
Russell: 22pts, 3reb, 10ast, 2stl
J. Allen: 20pts, 14reb, 6ast, 3stl
Achiuwa: 19pts, 10reb
Barnes: 15pts, 5reb, 5ast
The Rudy Tomjanovich Medal For The Rockets Best and Fairest:
3 - Gilgeous-Alexander, 2 - Russell, 1 - J.Allen