While the Houston Rockets didn’t generate any style points with their first-half offensive performance against the New York Knicks on Monday, it was plenty good enough to produce a 16-point lead.
But when the Knicks imposed their will in the third quarter and started dominating via their defense and handiwork on the offensive glass, the Rockets faced a challenge to their collective toughness, a call they needed to answer given the four-game skid they carried into the contest.
Houston survived a pair of double-digit rallies from the Knicks and eked out a 105-103 victory that set the table to build a measure of momentum heading into the All-Star break. The Rockets will visit the injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday to complete the unofficial first half.
“We needed it a lot,” said Rockets forward Dillon Brooks, who scored a team-high 23 points. “We told each other that we’ve got to play free, play together, play a little desperate, and play for each other, and I feel like we did that. These wins after long road losing streaks are good for us.”
The Rockets will try to use the momentum of the win despite the controversy over the validity of the last-second foul call that sent Aaron Holiday to the line to win it. On Tuesday, the Knicks reportedly filed a protest with the league, after the game’s crew chief Ed Malloy said after the game that the foul on the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson “should not have been called.”
The Rockets were four games over .500 following a 103-96 win over Memphis on Dec. 15. They have been undermined by defensive regression and injuries since, and Houston would need a win on Wednesday to climb to within four games of .500.
The Rockets have been without reserve forward Tari Eason (leg) for an extended period and lost veteran guard Fred VanVleet (adductor) and standout rookie Cam Whitmore (ankle) recently. They have labored of late.
“It would put us in a good position in the standings,” Brooks said of the potential to end a five-game road skid. “I know we fell down a little bit, but if we get these two wins and go into the break confident, (it would provide) something to look forward to when we come back because we’ve got two good games (against the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns) coming back.”
Already down a quartet of primary ballhandlers — Ja Morant (shoulder), Desmond Bane (ankle), Marcus Smart (finger) and Derrick Rose (ankle) — the Grizzlies lost Scotty Pippen Jr. to back soreness during their 96-87 loss to the Pelicans on Monday, their ninth consecutive defeat.
Injury attrition has come to define this season for Memphis, but the glut of absences at one position is crippling. When Pippen departed after posting six points and six assists in 25 minutes, it put the already short-handed Grizzlies in the position to rely on atypical options to run the offense.
It marked the latest obstacle for a team seemingly overwhelmed by them.
“It’s kind of by committee and we’ve had to utilize that obviously throughout the season,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said.
“Overall, I was just proud of the guys with how they responded. Different guys stepping up in different moments. Whether we had a point guard or not, I thought we played a pretty good game together. We just couldn’t get the ball to go in the net, and obviously, the (17) turnovers hurt us for 48 minutes.”
–Field Level Media