Don’t look now, but the Houston
Rockets are back in the Western Conference playoff
picture.
With the Golden State Warriors’
loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves and their win over the
Portland Trail Blazers, the Rockets now sit just a half-game behind
the 10th and last play-in spot in the Western
Conference.
After looking to be nowhere near
the play-in tournament range with just a 25-34 record, the Rockets
have found a semblance of life again by winning 11 of their last 12
games, including rattling off a nine-game winning streak (and
counting) to go above .500 on the season.
What makes the Rockets’ run even
more impressive is they have done it even without young star center
Alperen Sengun, who went down with a lower leg injury. Sengun has
been leading the team in points (21.1), rebounds (9.3) and assists
(5.0) for a young Rockets team that’s hungry for some postseason
action under first-year head coach Ime Udoka after rebuilding for
the past four years.
In Sengun’s absence, the Rockets
have been rejuvenated with a different style of play. They are
playing up and down the court, running and gunning and spacing the
floor as coach Udoka is making the most out of the roster in
without their playmaking hub.
Much of this can be credited to
Jalen Green’s increased level of play. Before the streak, Green was
struggling with his shot all year long, only averaging 17.9 points,
4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists on just 40/31/80 shooting splits. Over
his past 12 games, Green has amped up his level of play,
significantly increasing his numbers by tallying 27.8 points, 5.8
rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, while shooting 49.6% from the
field and 40.4% from three. And this has translated to wins for
Houston.
In those 12 games, Green has
been relentlessly attacking the rim and playing with pace. Green
has also been shooting more threes, and he has been making them at
a respectable mark to force defenders to respect his shot. This has
allowed him to create opportunities in the paint as well as
facilitating for his teammates.
Due to his efforts, Green was
awarded a Western Conference Player of the Week award and he
certainly hopes to keep this up for the Rockets as they continue to
trend upward and eventually catch the Warriors.
Another thing that has been huge
in Houston’s hot stretch is unlocking Amen Thompson. The rookie out
of Overtime Elite has struggled to start the season with a slew of
injuries and a lack of playing time enough to contribute. This has
hampered him and his ability to contribute.
However, when Sengun was
injured, Thompson was inserted into the starting lineup and has
shone since the streak has started. The 6’7 guard/forward leads the
Rockets in fastbreak opportunities, and uses his athletic abilities
to get out on transition. He has also proven to be a good cutter
when he is off the ball to get easy buckets underneath the basket.
His athleticism also gives him an advantage in finishing off plays,
particularly on dunks and layups.
On defense, Thompson is
disruptive as a point-of-attack defender, using his length and size
to bother opposing smaller point guards. Thompson uses his long
limbs to swipe at the ball, creating deflections and steals that
lead to easy transition baskets. At 6’7, Thompson is also an
excellent rebounder at his position and gives the Rockets plenty of
chances to run and leak out.
Finally, the Rockets have scored
more and seemingly increased their level of play. This might be
directly in correlation with Sengun being out, with other guys like
Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith and even their bench
guys doing more scoring to compensate for Sengun’s production. This
collected effort has been the key to their resurgence this season,
and the Rockets hope to sustain it for the final stretch of the
season in which eight of their remaining 11 games are against
playoff teams.
