The Rockets lost back-to-back to the Pacers and Suns, and lost two straight home games, which really hurts. Originally, the team's ranking has become closer and closer to the second echelon of the West, but now, it is on the same level as the Lakers, Suns, and Warriors. What's even more worrying is that Jabari Smith sprained his left foot during the game, and the extent of the injury depends on the results of the examination.
Not only Jabari, but before that, the team's main small forward Dillon Brooks also missed this game due to a right oblique muscle strain. This time he injured two starters, which was also quite unfavorable to the later schedule. Next, the Rockets' opponents include the 76ers, Timberwolves, Bucks, Heat, Celtics and other strong teams, and the difficulty is indeed not small.
Although injuries are inevitable, the Rockets' schedule at this stage is indeed pitiful. According to the local time of the United States, the rocket from December 17th to 20th, three games were arranged in these four days, from the 22nd to the 23rd, it was back-to-back games, from the 26th to the 29th, it was four days and three games, and 8 games were played in 13 days, and the donkeys of the production team were not so tired!
That's the league's schedule this season. With the addition of a new mid-season tournament format this season, the tournament has been fragmented and the density of the tournament has been very varied. For example, after the Rockets won the game against the Nuggets on November 12, they rested for 4 consecutive days, and then when they played again on November 17, they couldn't find their form and directly suffered three consecutive defeats. Another example is that after playing the third game of the midseason group stage on November 24, he rested for three days before playing, and then lost all of them back-to-back.
The Rockets are a relatively young team, they have quality, but they are not yet part of a team that can adjust themselves very well. With this kind of schedule, which is sometimes tight and sometimes loose, it is difficult to maintain an efficient state consistently. Prior to mid-December, the Rockets had played the fewest games in the league and played the most games by 5-6 fewer games. The front is loose and the back is tight, so there has been a lot of competition recently.
For players, the high intensity of games is also a big cause of injuries. The more fatigued a person is, the more likely it is to induce some sprain injuries, and the injuries of Dillon and Jabari are basically like this. It's not that the Rockets can't afford to lose, blame the schedule, you think, now that big data technology is so developed, arranging a season's schedule, you can use the computer to give you hundreds of sets of plans. What kind of schedule is more reasonable, what kind of schedule is unreasonable, doesn't the league itself have that number in mind?
Therefore, we are just calling for the fact that from the perspective of protecting athletes, we should still make the competition density more scientific and reasonable. The difference in the total number of games is 2-3 games, which is understandable, but the difference of 5-6 games at the same time is really incomprehensible.
From the Rockets' own point of view, these two losses are also typical. The last game was against Haliburton, and this time it was against Durant, which is also expected. It's just that the problem of the team's lack of offensive points is still very big. Aside from Shin Kyung, the team doesn't have a consistent second scoring spot. Whether it is Green, VanVleet, Jabari, or Eason, the output ability is not sustainable enough, which is also a prominent problem for the team at present.
Therefore, once the hand is good, the Rockets can beat many strong teams with youthful energy, but it is also easy to lose to some medium-strength teams. Including against the Lakers, Clippers, Mavericks, Suns, and other superstars, the loss is relatively large.
However, that's what the team has to go through. Two consecutive defeats, it doesn't matter, as long as it can give people hope, Rockets fans are willing to wait any longer.