The Houston Rockets’ one-game win streak was snapped on Wednesday night after a 122-97 blowout loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
The Rockets started off the game like they were still playing against the Toronto Raptors. Houston made its first six shots, then immediately went on a 9-2 run to get an early 17-7 lead on Charlotte.
That wouldn’t be the case for the rest of the quarter, though, after Charlotte went on a 13-2 run of its own to eventually nab a two-point lead. Both teams would trade baskets until they ended the first period in a 26-26 tie.
Christian Wood led the way for the team in the first, scoring six points on 3-7 shooting from the field. K.J. Martin, Jae’Sean Tate, and John Wall each had four points of their own to open up the game.
The second quarter was just like the first quarter, but flipped.
Charlotte jumped out early on Houston, getting their lead up to as much as nine points. The Rockets, to their credit, stay poised, increased their defensive intensity, and got their way back into the game before going into halftime down 58-55.
In the first half, the Rockets had no answer for the Hornets from outside the arc. The opponent knocked down nine of their 19 deep-ball attempts for 47.4%, whereas Houston made only eight of 21 attempts for 38%. But, on the other end, the home team won the battle in the paint, 20-16.
Wall commanded Houston’s offense in the second quarter, scoring nine of his 13 halftime points in the period. Wood had eight points and seven rebounds by the break. Ben McLemore and Danuel House Jr. each had eight points, also.
Martin had seven points in the half off the bench for the Rockets, including getting Cody Zeller on a poster with this impressive jam.
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 25, 2021
The third quarter was unlike any quarter so far this game, resulting in an absolute beatdown of the Rockets in the period. Charlotte started off the quarter with a blistering 8-9 shooting from the field to Houston’s 3-11, jumping out to a very quick 78-61 in just over five minutes into the quarter.
Houston could muster up only 15 points in the quarter behind an abysmal 2-12 shooting from deep, 6-25 from the field overall. The Hornets, on the other hand, torched the Rockets in the quarter, going 14-of-19 from the field, 6-10 from deep.
The Rockets went into the fourth quarter down 93-70.
Not much changed for either team in the final quarter of the game. Martin opened up the period with a three-pointer, just for Charlotte to go on 10-0 run and get the lead up to 30.
The only break we could get from this onslaught was when the broadcast went down part-way through the fourth. It wouldn’t come back on until a little over 30 seconds left in the game, but it’s very safe to say that you probably didn’t miss out on anything.
The Rockets shot 33-86 from the field for a wretched 38.4% to the Hornets 51.3% shooting from the field, making 41 of 80 attempts. Charlotte also killed Houston from three, knocking down 18 shots on 38 shots from behind the arc for 47.4% shooting.
John Wall led the Rockets with 20 points and seven assists. In 29 minutes of play, Christian Wood put up 11 points and 10 rebounds on 4-14 shooting. Ben McLemore chipped in 14 points, going 4-10 from deep.
On the other end, the Hornets had three scorers with 19+ points in the game. Terry Rozier led all scorers with 25 points on 9-14 shooting, 4-8 from deep. Devonte’ Graham had 21 points on 7-10 shooting, 6-9 from behind the arc. Malik Monk had 19, also on 7-10 shooting.
Houston will get an opportunity to bounce back when they face the only team worse than them in the West, the Timberwolves, in Minnesota on Friday.