With the final weeks of the regular season at hand and the Houston Rockets locked in a tight race for the third seed in the West, the mistakes that have plagued them all season must be mitigated if the Rockets are to fend off the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets.
The Rockets claimed a 123-118 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday in a contest that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. They won twice in a three-game road trip before returning to play eight of the next 10 games at home, starting Thursday against the Golden State Warriors.
For the Rockets, the triumph over the Wizards was typical in many aspects. Alperen Sengun posted his 26th double-double of the season with 32 points and 13 rebounds, while Kevin Durant tallied 30 points on just 15 shot attempts.
Amen Thompson added a double-double (22 points, 12 rebounds) before departing with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, and Reed Sheppard continued his stellar play of late with 19 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and six steals.
But the Rockets also committed 21 turnovers, with Sengun (eight) and Durant (six) responsible for two-thirds of that total. Houston ranks near the bottom of the league in turnovers per game (14.5), and its inability to consistently play with ball security has served as a detriment throughout the season.
“We turned it over too much, but a lot of that was late,” Durant said, echoing a familiar refrain. “We can correct that type of stuff.”
Said Sengun: “We’ll fix it with some film. It’s easy to fix that next game.”
With the playoffs fast approaching, the Rockets have yet to prove that they can correct their tendencies to play in a crowd and fuel opponents with live-ball turnovers. Durant and Sengun have shouldered a huge load running the offense, with Sheppard and Thompson helping too.
But it would be disingenuous to suggest that Houston could flip a switch and protect the ball with greater focus when called to do so. The need to improve in that regard is crystal clear.
Since winning six of seven games Jan. 7-19, the Warriors are 6-11 and clinging to eighth in the West, with their 114-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday shaving their lead over the Clippers in the standings to one game in the loss column.
The Warriors are an injury-depleted group, with Stephen Curry (knee), Jimmy Butler (knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) all currently unavailable. Curry missed all 10 games for the Warriors last month and isn’t expected to be reevaluated again until next week, close to his 38th birthday.
After producing a spirited first-half effort against the Clippers, the Warriors fizzled following the intermission, getting outscored 72-45 over the final 24 minutes.
This upcoming stretch, with their roster compromised, will test their collective will.
“It’s tough to sustain that kind of effort for 48 minutes when you’re severely undermanned,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “You have to generate that energy defensively to try to create some offense out of it like we did in the first half.”
