Entering Thursday, the young Houston Rockets had won five straight home games at Toyota Center. This week, to kick off a seven-game homestand, the longest of the season, they won largely with defense. They held both Milwaukee and Phoenix to fewer than 100 points. That equaled their total number of such games during this season’s first 25 games.
That didn’t happen in Thursday’s 111-108 loss (box score) to Miami, which ended the home-court winning streak. But while inconsistent, the Rockets showed flashes of that elite defensive form, particularly by shutting down Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and the Heat over the final five minutes and very nearly rallying to a win.
The problems, of course, came in the first 43 minutes, when Herro scored a career-high 41 points on 13-of-20 shooting (65.0%) and an astounding 10-of-15 from 3-point range (66.7%). Jimmy Butler added 20 points (53.8% FG), 10 rebounds and 7 assists for the Heat (15-15). But with a 9-0 run to finish, Houston showed enough to validate some of its recent improvements, especially on defense.
Kevin Porter Jr. had a strong game for the Rockets with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting (58.8%) to go with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals, but he missed his last-ditch attempt at a tying 3-pointer.
Backcourt mate Jalen Green scored a team-high 22 points but continued to struggle from 3-point range, making 1-of-6 (16.7%) from deep. Rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr. had another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, though he joined Green with 3-point struggles, shooting just 1-of-7 (14.3%) from behind the arc.
Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction following Thursday’s game. Houston (9-19) plays the fourth game of its longest homestand of the season (seven games in total) on Saturday night versus Portland, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Central.