It marked another close call on the road for the Rockets, one that resulted in a frustrating result and a familiar refrain away from the confines of Toyota Center in Houston.
The Rockets suffered a 135-130 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday that dropped their road record to 2-10 this season. Only the Detroit Pistons, currently mired in a franchise-worst 24-game losing streak, have won fewer games on the road. At home, the Rockets remain an altogether different outfit.
Houston will attempt to extend its current 11-game home winning streak on Wednesday against the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
Despite fielding the third-best defense in the NBA according to defensive rating as of Tuesday, the Rockets were undressed on that side of the court by the Milwaukee Bucks and Cavaliers in back-to-back games. Houston will play nine of its next 10 games at Toyota Center, but the memory of its continued road struggles will follow it home.
“There’s a lot of inconsistencies, the same mistakes,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “I can go across the board, basically.
“Assignments on specific guys, lack of toughness, getting outhustled, outworked on the offensive glass, getting to shooters, closing out on guys we’re not supposed to guard. Run the gamut across the board of things we didn’t do well and haven’t done well on the road.”
Befitting his brash personality, Atlanta guard Trae Young reduced his fourth consecutive 30-point, 10-assist double-double in the Hawks’ 130-124 victory over the Pistons on Monday to “it’s just what I do” despite the impact on winning his recent run of efficiency has had.
Young paired 31 points with 15 assists in the win, the second for the Hawks over the past three games following a stretch of seven losses in eight games. Young is averaging 34.8 points and 13.3 assists while shooting 46.8 percent from behind the arc during his run of 30-10 double-doubles.
The Hawks sorely need his production. Atlanta was without Bogdan Bogdanovic (ankle) against Detroit, and he joined four others as unavailable. The Hawks have struggled to reclaim traction following a promising 5-3 start, having won consecutive games only once since. While plenty have questioned his leadership, Young has provided the Hawks exactly what they need as of late.
“I know from my perspective, the things that he’s doing, getting us in the flow of the game early and letting the game come to him is really important,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I’m not concerned about his numbers. I wasn’t early in the year and I’m not now. There’s some things that I want to see him continue to do, and he’ll be even more efficient.
“The thing that he’s doing, to me, that is impactful too is he’s guarding. … Everybody’s got to hold themselves to a standard and him in particular because he’s on the point of the ball. But when he’s picking up after a time out or a free throw, those things I think are good for his mindset.”
–Field Level Media