Rockets pull pelicans 126-112 – The Dream Shake

The Rockets had their winning streak for five games and, in the process, returned to 0.500. The leadership of the NBA defense during the winning streak yielded more points than normal, but this is largely due to the fact that about eight minutes of the fourth period was rubbish.

We are starting to see how the Rockets can come together with a defense-oriented approach and a multi-faceted attack, with almost any player being able to score and contribute to the group’s effort to put points on the board. Christian Wood may be the focus, but tonight eleven Rockets scored and five players scored thirteen or more. (Thirteen is not a special number, it is just the smallest total of the two-digit markers.)

Imagine how likely it would have looked before this season started?

This game proceeded strangely, by quarter. Let’s take a quick look.

First quarter

The current rockets starting to align Wall, Oladipo, Tate, Tucker and Wood are simply not working. The combination of Tate and Tucker at the start of the game, combined with the Rockets’ reluctance to attack from the inside, or perform anything other than ISO, or shoot (and block) three fast is a problem. So far it is an initial advantage for opponents, who run away from the Rockets, make mistakes and expose their worst aspect – the transition defense.

Tonight, the blunt initial attack led to a 3 to 12 point shot, and for long periods New Orleans led by about ten points. Then the bank came in. From that point on, the 6’5 ”assault team started to cool the Pelicans and the Rockets lost by eight at the end of the period.

Second bedroom

The Bench Brigade kept up the pressure at first, and Rockets holders went crazy in the quarter. The shots that rang in the first came in, and the Rockets attacked quickly outside the Pelican’s mistakes resulting from a good defense. The quarter started with the rockets dropping eight. It ended, 48 points later, with the Rockets rising 18. This is a 26-point play, for those who scored at home. The Pelicans were virtually paralyzed, their 35pt explosion in the first quarter changes to 22 in the second period.

The Pelicans just seemed to give up with about four minutes left. An emblematic moment of this is the Rockets, with 3.8 seconds remaining, being able to roll the basektball, without the clock starting with a pickup, from the Rockets baseline to the three-point line of the Pelicanos basket. Then Victor Oladipo calmly hit a three.

Third quarter

Stan Van Gundy must have given Van Gundian a rant at halftime, as listless Pelicans did in the third. They did everything, and Zion Williamson (PF Shaq) was unstoppable. He shot or missed, and the Rockets were unable to contain it. The fact that he ended the night with only 19 attempts is silly. He is the only player that no one has an answer to, not the Rockets, with Wood being dominated and Cousins ​​accumulating fouls. At one point in the third, the Rockets’ lead, which had increased to more than twenty, dropped to eight. A series of silly fouls by Jaxon Hayes, including a dubious Flagrant 1 over Cousins ​​shooting with three points, kept New Orleans at bay until Eric Gordon and Jae’Sean Tate could extend the lead to fifteen.

Fourth trimester

The lead would not diminish much in the fourth period, and the game went into an unofficial junk period earlier, as it was clear that Zion could not beat the Rockets’ combined score. The Rockets ended up playing on their entire bench for at least five minutes each, while Rodion Kurucs, Mason Jones and Ben McLemore appeared briefly.

Conclusion

There is not much to be said, except that 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 smart action with Eric Gordon, where he comes down a little late and handoffs around the three-point line with the other Rocket serving as a tracker for Gordon to take a long, but open, three-point shot.

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