Category: Team News

As Thunder rise in West standings, Rockets could have a blueprint to follow

“They have a ton of talent and have drafted well over the last few years, and they’ve kind of built it up slowly,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka says of the Thunder.

The good news for the Rockets is they play Wednesday at Toyota Center, where they’ve earned all eight of their wins in the 2023-24 regular season. At home, Houston is 8-1. On the road, they are the NBA’s only winless team (0-8).

While the Rockets are excited to return home, the bad news is they play the Oklahoma City Thunder, who own the NBA’s fifth-best record (13-6) and its top road record (7-2).

“Every game is a test,” Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate said Tuesday. “This is a very good league. This is going to be our first time seeing them, so it is definitely going to be a different look. They have a lot of good players over there, so it is going to be a test.”

Oklahoma City has won eight of its last 10 games, and it is led by one of the NBA’s best players, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The superstar guard is averaging 29.9 points per game this season, which makes him the sixth-best scorer in the league.

“They have a ton of talent and have drafted well over the last few years … and kind of built it up slowly,” said Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, whose team hopes to be on a similar trajectory.

“When you add a 30-point scorer, which SGA has been over the last two years, that takes it to another level,” Udoka said. “He is the head of the snake there, but it is not only him; it is Jalen Williams who is playing well, and (Chet) Holmgren is playing well.”

“They have a lot of good shooters and Isaiah Joe coming off the bench and (Lu) Dort,” Udoka concluded. “They are a well-rounded team with one dominant player obviously and a lot of good pieces around him, so we have to be on point with the coverages and personnel.”

What also makes the Thunder so compelling is the play of Holmgren, who missed all of the 2022-23 season after suffering a Lisfranc injury to his right foot during a pro-am game in Seattle.

Since returning, Holmgren has put up strong numbers, averaging 17.6 points, 8 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game while hitting 39.5% of his 3-pointers. He was recently named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November games.

Holmgren will have his hands full on the opposite end of the court when he faces Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., who went No. 3 in the 2022 NBA draft, one selection after Holmgren. Smith has had a solid second season for Houston and has increasingly taken on some of the most challenging defensive assignments.

One area to watch will be the Rockets’ communication on defense, which they have struggled with during their current three-game losing streak. Oklahoma City is a team that seeks out mismatches on offense to get their primary scorers in position to make plays.

“Communication on defense is very important,” Rockets guard Aaron Holiday told reporters at Tuesday’s practice. “Knowing where the screens are coming so we can get out and rotate. But other than that, we have a game plan, and we are going to stick to it.”

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Vipers’ Eron Gordon, Trhae Mitchell face off vs. Rockets alum Bruno Caboclo in Capitanes’ Mexico City home opener

It was an unofficial Rio Grande Valley reunion as Houston’s G League squad traveled to Mexico City’s first-ever home opener south of the border.

The G League now plays games south of the Rio Grande with Mexico City’s Capitanes hosting the Houston Rockets‘ G League affiliate for their first home game since joining the G League. Last season the franchise played in the Dallas-Fort Worth area due to the pandemic.

The contest was something of a reunion for Rockets past and present. Former Houston forward Bruno Caboclo — now signed to Mexico City’s roster — facing Rio Grande Valley Vipers Eron Gordon and Trhae Mitchell.

The Rockets Wire caught up with all three to talk about their experience playing in Mexico, the unique qualities of playing in the high-altitude city, and their impressions about the historic event for our neighbors south of the border.

Traded to the Rockets from the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020, Caboclo found himself waived by Houston less than a year later, spending a season overseas playing for French club Limoges in the LNB Pro-A league and for the Brazilian National Team.

‘It is all experience’: Jalen Green, Rockets learn from rocky start

“It’s been frustrating, but a learning lesson at the end of the day,” says Jalen Green, whose #Rockets fell to 1-8. “We are still young and still growing. It is all experience.”

HOUSTON — By the time fans could settled into their seats at Toyota Center on Wednesday, the Rockets were already down 18 points to the Los Angeles Clippers. The mood had that “here we go again” feeling of last season, when the Rockets found themselves down early and could never recover.

Yet, this group of players does not have the same demeanor as last year’s team that finished at the bottom of the Western Conference. Despite a 1-8 start, this is a scrappy group of young, talented players gaining confidence every time they step on the court.

Clippers veteran Paul George made a tough shot to beat the Rockets on Monday in a game Houston trailed for much of it before fighting back to take a late lead. With that in mind, Los Angeles knew Houston would not roll over on Wednesday. The Rockets used a 35-17 run to get themselves back into the game.

The fans watching their team play at home for only the third time in the first nine games of the 2022-23 regular season helped fuel the Rockets during the comeback by matching the same energy they saw from that youthful group.

Even though Houston put up a solid effort in the second half and took a brief lead in the third quarter, too much experience and too many turnovers led to the 109-101 loss to the Clippers.

“It’s been frustrating, but a learning lesson at the end of the day,” said second-year Rockets guard Jalen Green. “We just have to play as a team, stick together. Down the stretch, we got to execute plays. Things like that. We just don’t have that right now.”

Green, who finished the game with 22 points, including 14 in the third quarter, knows that everything they have been going through in the first nine games of the season will only help them get stronger.

“It’s experience,” Green said postgame from the Rockets’ locker room. “We are going up against the best teams in our first couple of games with a lot of rookies and second-year players. We are still young and still growing. It is all experience.”

Green shot 9-of-17 from the field (52.9%) and 3-of-8 on 3-pointers (37.5%), snapping a recent slump in which he had shot 25.7% overall and 22.6% on 3-pointers over Houston’s recent 0-4 road trip.

With the home-and-home series with the Clippers in the books, the Rockets head back on the road for another four-game road trip beginning Saturday in Minnesota (4-4). Tipoff from Target Center is set for 7 p.m. Central.

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