Rockets fall flat in the third quarter as the Spurs run away 124-105

Yuck.

That’s the best reaction I have after watching that game. It was a winnable game that got out of hand as soon as halftime ended. I’ll be summarizing this with a pros and cons list given that there’s a lot to not like from this one.

Pro

The loss helps the Houston Rockets lottery odds. If there’s any glass half full optimism to be had it’s that if you’re going to be bad, this is the right season to do it given the top of the draft.

Con

Losing to this San Antonio Spurs team without their leading scorer is disgusting. The Spurs were short nearly 33 points of nightly scoring tonight as Keldon Johnson and Josh Richardson sat out. That being said, they still didn’t have any issues putting up 124 on the scoreboard.

Pro

There was some solid big man play from Alperen Sengun and Bruno Fernando. Sengun’s box score might not reflect too much outside of his 22 points, but he was active early and that helped keep Houston afloat.

Bruno’s energy in the second quarter was welcome as the team actually went on a run with him in there to give them a lead going into the intermission.

Con

The starting backcourt struggled to get others involved and only combined to shoot 9-for-28 from the field to total 28 points. If Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green aren’t going to be dynamite at putting the ball in the hoop they are going to have to figure out how to make others better.

It’s worth noting KPJ picked up a fourth foul midway through the second quarter, yet the team managed to play their best ball of the game during that stretch without him.

Pro

Daishen Nix??? I think I have to give some credit to him here, right? He wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he did have a team leading nine assists and three steals while also having the Rockets’ highest plus/minus at +11.

There was a very short airball and an impromptu dribbling off the leg out of bounds on his end, but he was on the court when KPJ was in foul trouble and part of the reason the team had a lead. For that I’ll give him kudos.

Con

The Spurs got too many good looks from three for my liking. I could have swore that Doug McDermott and Devin Vassell each shot at least ten of them, but they only went a combined 9-for-14 from distance so my apologies. As a team they went 17-for-34 which is devastating when you consider that the Rockets shot so poorly. This leads me to my next point...

Con

The Rockets only shot 5-for-24 from deep. These nights happen. However, the discrepancy in marksmanship is what blew this game out of the water.

Pro

TyTy Washington Jr. exploded for nine points in four minutes of garbage time. In the context of this game it didn’t mean much, but in the grand scheme of things maybe it means he can contribute going forward.

Con

Jeremy Sochan’s free throw form was shocking considering he shot puts the ball with one arm. Apparently he started doing this because his left hand keeps blocking his right when he releases. That part I understand because I had the same issue as a youth.

While I admire his determination to improve his 45% free throw rate, I still rank it as a con because he went 1-for-4 tonight.

Enough of the cons and more cons list though. The moral of the story is that this was a game and then suddenly it wasn’t. Let’s hope the Rockets come out of that halftime locker more prepared on Wednesday when they take on the Orlando Magic.