Exhale.
The Houston Rockets are all smiles on the way back to Texas, after a 103-102 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
Despite playing without Christian Wood (ankle sprain) and John Wall (knee pain), the Rockets built a substantial advantage against the Pistons, leading with up to 20 points in the second quarter.
The Rockets ‘leadership swelled thanks to the strong energy of the Rockets’ reserves. Sterling Brown, David Nwaba and Ben McLemore became the first Rockets trio to score double figures off the bench this season and their lead grew as they entered the game. When Nwaba and McLemore checked in at 5:48 in the first quarter, the team had a seven point lead. At the end of the first quarter, the lead was 13.
The bank’s positives also joined veterans Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker, who had strong offensive nights. Gordon led all the Rockets at 20 and was the Rockets’ main ball handler tonight. Meanwhile, after many offensive misfortunes and leaving Wednesday’s game with ab discomfort, Tucker equaled the season’s highest score with 15 points from 5-8 shots.
The Pistons were able to return to the game after a slow start with accurate three-point pitches and capitalizing on the Rockets’ energy deflation, which started when the Rockets settled in 20. The Pistons hit 15-32, good for 46.9% , in addition to the three-point line.
Wayne Ellington was Detroit’s most efficient scorer, scoring 18 points in 6-10 deep shots. Jerami Grant had a bad start, but found his three ball late in the game, kicking 3-6 in three.
The Pistons finally fell on the Rockets and took a four point lead in the fourth half.
The Rockets allowed the Pistons to return to the game with disconnected offensive efforts from Victor Oladipo and DeMarcus Cousins. Oladipo struggled to generate and create without Christian Wood on the ground and hit just 4 to 16 on the field for 13 points. Cousins, who started the injured Wood, was strong on the boards, but scored just five points in shots from 2 to 16.
However, the Rockets’ second unit was able to regain leadership.
An 18-6 race gave the Rockets the lead forever, with everyone except two points during the race from Brown, Nwaba and McLemore.
The Pistons managed to maintain themselves, despite losing four consecutive free throws in the final stretch.
Blake Griffin hit a top three to reduce the lead to one. Then, a mistake by Eric Gordon’s Rockets put the ball back in Detroit’s hands with the remaining 3.8 seconds remaining.
So, a drive from Grant was a second too short, as the ball remained in his hands right after the clock ended and the Rockets ran away with a victory.
It is difficult to say whether the Rockets deserved to win this game or not. If you consider the efforts of the first quarter and those of the bank in the fourth quarter, the answer is yes. But if you look at the whole game, the answer is no. It was lucky that the Rockets faced the worst team in the league, which had several chances to keep the Rockets out and failed.
Despite a frustrating game, the Rockets ended up at the top. With wins coming so badly for the team lately, you’re going to get what you can.
The Rockets will be back on the ground tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks on the road. The complaint is at 20:00 CT.