As the Houston Rockets face the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Ontario, Canada, one thing is quickly becoming apparent after 11 games into the NBA’s 2022-23 regular season. Point guard Kevin Porter Jr. leads by example with his play on the court.
In the Rockets’ second win of the season in Orlando on Monday, Porter had a season-high 11 assists to go along with 17 points, which helped Houston shoot 50% on 3-pointers as a team. For the game, they hit 24-of-48 overall, with many coming off passes from Porter.
“It was the ball movement that led to the 3-point shooting tonight for us,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said postgame. “We’re not going to make 24 threes every night, but at least we’re creating opportunities for our teammates. I’ve been talking to them a lot about it, and hopefully it’s sinking in.”
Creating has been what Porter worked on in the offseason to make himself a more dangerous offensive weapon, along with getting the ball to playmakers such as Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun.
One problem the Rockets (2-9) have had this season is a high number of turnovers, which is to be expected when you have inconsistent lineups like Houston has had in nine out of 11 games played.
Yet, Porter makes no excuses for the lack of continuity and even took responsibility for the turnovers after a recent loss to the Clippers. “It starts with me, I am the point guard,” Porter said.
His coaches and teammates have taken notice of that type of accountability this season and love the maturity he is displaying early on this season. Houston has played a very tough schedule to start the 2022-23 slate, but Porter sees it as a learning opportunity for him and his teammates to use as the season progresses.
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