Rockets pick pelicans 126-112 – The Dream Shake

The Rockets ran their winning streak to five games and climbed back to .500 in the process. Their top defense in the NBA during the finish line gave up more points than usual, but that’s mainly due to the garbage of about eight minutes of the fourth quarter.

We’re starting to see how the Rockets can come up with a defensive approach and a versatile attack, with almost every player able to score and contribute to a group effort to put points on the board. Christian Wood may be the focus, but tonight eleven Rockets passed, and five players scored thirteen or more. (Thirteen is not a special number, it’s just the lowest total of double-digit scorers.)

Can you imagine what that would have looked like before the start of this season?

This match went strangely quarterly. Let’s take a brief look.

First term

The current Rockets adaptation of Wall, Oladipo, Tate, Tucker and Wood just does not work. The combination of Tate and Tucker early in a game, combined with the Rockets’ unwillingness to attack inside, or to perform anything other than ISO, or to shoot (and stone) quick tries, is a problem. So far, this has led to early tournaments for opponents, laying off the Rockets’ missions and exposing their worst aspect – transitional defense.

Tonight, the offensive attack leads to 3-12 3pt shooting, and New Orleans leads for long periods by about ten points. Then the bank came in. From that point on, the 6’5 “Assault team began to cool the Pelicans and the Rockets put eight behind them.

Second term

The Bench Brigade kept up the pressure early, and the Rockets appetizer got fierce during the quarter. Shots that slammed in at first went in, and the Rockets quickly attacked from Pelican misses due to good defense. The quarter began with the Rockets trailing eight. It ends, 48 ​​points later, with the Rockets at 18. It’s a 26-point swing for those scoring at home. The Pelicans were largely shut down, and their 35pt outburst in the first quarter was dampened to 22 in the second frame.

The Pelicans seem to have simply stopped with about four minutes left. A characteristic moment of this is that the Rockets, with 3.8 seconds left, are allowed to roll the basektball, without the clock starting with a pickup, all the way to the Rockets baseline to the three-point line of the Pelicans basket . Whereupon Victor Oladipo calmed down a try splash.

Third term

Stan Van Gundy should have had a Van Gundian outburst at halftime, as the listless Pelicans got it in the third in a row. They made everything, and Zion Williamson (PF Shaq) was unstoppable. He made shots, or he missed his shot, and the Rockets could not restrain him. The fact that he ended the night with only 19 attempts is silly. He’s the one player for whom no one has an answer, not the Rockets, with Wood being overtaken, and Cousins ​​chasing the errors. At one point in the third, the Rockets’ lead, which had risen to more than twenty, was up to eight. A series of silly offenses by Jaxon Hayes, including a questionable Flagrant 1 on Cousins ​​who shot a three-pointer, kept New Orleans at stake until Eric Gordon and Jae’Sean Tate were able to extend the lead to fifteen.

Fourth term

The lead would not shrink much in the fourth period, and the game went into the unofficial garbage early on, as it appeared that Zion could not overcome the Rockets joint output. The Rockets ended up playing their entire bench each for at least five minutes, while Rodion Kurucs, Mason Jones and Ben McLemore appeared fleetingly.

Closure

There is not a ton more to say, except the Rockets bench (perhaps without the relentless David Nwaba for some time with an ankle injury) simply destroys opponents with defense and energy. They also have a clever action with Eric Gordon, where he comes down to the floor a bit late and takes an advantage over the three-point line, while the other Rocket serves as a screener for Gordon for a long but wide open three-point shot. to take. .

The next game, to possibly reach a winning record, is Monday against the Thunder.