Down the stretch on Wednesday, when it became obvious that the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks refused to roll over, the Houston Rockets faced a defensive tactic that’d previously given them fits.
The Bucks aggressively double-teamed Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter, testing the Rockets to see if they’d wilt like they did when the Los Angeles Lakers employed the same strategy last month.
But this time the Rockets held firm and held on, claiming a 119-113 victory that extended their winning streak to four games in advance of the Utah Jazz visiting Houston on Friday.
The Rockets (47-29) effectively moved the ball from Durant to Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson or Tari Eason without committing cataclysmic turnovers. Their late-game execution wasn’t pristine, but at least the Rockets didn’t turn the ball over repeatedly under duress.
Houston recorded only eight turnovers, continuing a recent pattern of improved ball security. The Rockets’ recent pivot away from distressing live-ball turnovers has undergirded an offense that’s otherwise efficient, with ample scoring options.
“We’re being smart with the ball now a little bit,” Sengun said. “We have some off-ball actions. We don’t run the pick-and-roll the whole game now. I think we’ve fixed some stuff.
“Being smart with the ball is helping us so we don’t have to run back in transition defense. That stuff is helping us for sure.”
The Rockets survived despite poor shooting games from Durant (7 for 16), Jabari Smith Jr. (5 for 15) and Eason (1 for 8). Sengun (9 for 13) and Reed Sheppard, who made a career-high nine 3-pointers en route to a team-high 27 points, offset the shooting woes of their teammates and led the way to victory after Milwaukee cut a 20-point deficit to four.
That Houston struggled to close out the Bucks, who were missing their top six scorers, only reinforced the narrative that the Rockets play to the level of their competition. Utah (21-56) has lost 11 of 12 games, meaning the Rockets’ ability to focus against a lesser foe will be tested again.
“It’s tough against certain teams with nothing to lose coming in playing free,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “But encouraged in the other way, that we’ve lost some games like this this year.
“But we’d like to maintain those leads and not watch them dwindle.”
The Jazz are one game ahead of the Sacramento Kings for last place in the Western Conference. But for all the conversation around the NBA concerning tanking, the Jazz have at least one person in their corner validating their effort and commitment to professionalism.
“They compete, they play hard, they share the ball,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Some nights, certain guys play well; some nights they struggle a little bit. I’m really proud of this group of guys.
“You can feel it in the building, you really can. Our fans have been incredible all season, but I also think that they’re feeding off the energy of these guys. It’s hard not to root for them. They really bring it every night.”
Brice Sensabaugh put up 28 points for Utah in a 130-117 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Sensabaugh has stepped up with top scorers Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George sidelined, averaging a career-best 14.5 points through 71 games.
