The Houston Rockets won the clash of traded players with a 107-88 victory over the Washington Wizards in Houston on Tuesday night.
Despite a good team game in the first quarter, the Rockets had to overcome an initial deficit. Houston couldn’t find a chance to start the game, dropping 9-3 at the start.
But the team would end up clicking and finding their blow behind the bow. All Rockets, except PJ Tucker, scored in the first quarter, with former teammates John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins leading with seven and five points, respectively.
Houston would end the quarter with just three points, 29-26.
John Wall followed his strong first quarter with a great second quarter. Despite going 0-4 from the bottom, Wall still managed 15 points in the break in 6-12 field shots and 3-3 from the free-throw line.
Wall looked like a vintage wall in more ways than one.
The Rockets controlled the second quarter from start to finish, jumping into a 16-6 race from the start and beating the Wizards by 30-23 in the second. Houston would have a greater advantage if he had some control on the boards. Washington overcame them by 29 to 16 in the interval, including ten crucial offensive rebounds to just four Houston offensive rebounds.
The home team would go into the break with a 56-52 lead.
Houston followed a great second quarter with an absolutely clunker third quarter. In fact, both teams sucked, with the Rockets and Wizards scoring just 19 and 18 points in total in the quarter, respectively.
Rockets 3 of 13 with four turns to start the second half, but it could be worse. Wizards 2 of 11 with three turnovers. Rockets in a 2-0 run to lead by five.
– Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) January 27, 2021
Neither team scored at least the third point of the fourth until 7:57 am left in the period. Houston still stumbled into fourth place with a 75-70 lead.
The fourth period ended up being the best of the game for the Rockets. The Rockets dropped 32 in the fourth, while the Wizards equaled their third quarter with 18 more points.
John Wall returned to his former team with 24 points and five assists in 9-21 and in just 24 minutes. DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points, 11 rebounds and four steals in 6-11 field shots, 4-8 in the background. Victor Oladipo and Eric Gordon each had 20 points of their own.
Russell Westbrook did not get exactly the game he wanted against his former club, scoring 19 points and 11 rebounds and seven assists in shots from 7 to 17, and six turns. Bradley Beal won 33 points, leading all of the game’s top scorers, with 12-28 shots and 8-8 from the free-throw line.
Houston passed Washington from the depths, hitting 12 of 37 attempts against the Wizards’ five attempts in 26 shots. The Rockets also made a great adjustment in the range on the exchanges and overtook the Wizards by 28 to 20 after losing that match in the first half.
The new Rockets defense duo also shared that magical moment when they closed the Wizards.
John Wall was loving it.
The Rockets are now on the rise, achieving their third consecutive victory – the longest streak of the season. Houston will have a day of rest before hosting the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.