HOUSTON — With 20 points in 35 minutes, including a team-high 9 assists and five 3-pointers (in 11 attempts, at 45.5%), Kevin Porter Jr. continued his strong run in Tuesday’s upset victory in the young Rockets home finale against first-place Denver.
But for the fourth-year guard, who turns 23 years old next month, perhaps his biggest assist came while not in the game.
Porter was at the scorer’s table midway through the fourth quarter, ready to replace second-year guard Josh Christopher, who had 10 points and 3 steals on 4-of-8 shooting (50.0%) in 18 minutes.
But Christopher’s energy was infectious for the Rockets, who were starting to pull away. Porter went to head coach Stephen Silas and offered to stay on the sidelines to milk the hot hand. In postgame comments, here’s how Silas says it all went down:
Josh was playing well, and he had been in for eight or nine straight minutes, and I was going to take him out. Scoot was like, ‘You want to let him ride?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, if you’re good, I’m good.’ He was like, ‘Let him ride.’ I was going to take him out, again, and Scoot was like, ‘Nah, leave him in.’
That shows maturity, from Scoot. That is big-time maturity, growth, caring about his brother, caring about his team, helping his coach. … All of those things, he showed in that moment. It’s game 80, and we haven’t won as many games [20-60] as I’d like. But moments like that are a coach’s dream.
As Houston’s 2022-23 season enters its final days, it was an encouraging display of leadership by the team’s starting point guard.
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