The Rockets suffered two heavy defeats on the road and at home, in fact, if you talk about the score, the Rockets did not lose too much, but the Rockets lost points in these two games is really unacceptable, against the Cavaliers The Rockets lost 5 points in an overtime, and the Cavaliers scored a total of 135 points on the Rockets in the whole game, and the home Rockets lost to the Hawks, and the Rockets also lost 134 points in the whole game, according to statistics so far this season, the 134 points conceded is the most points conceded by the Rockets in all home games。
That is to say, these two games first conceded 135 points and then 134 points, such a performance is completely unacceptable for the Rockets, you must know that under the creation of Udoka, this season's Rockets are very different from last season, last season the Rockets were a team without tactical discipline, they were who got the ball, who shot, who got the ball, who did it alone. Although the offensive end looks good, but the Rockets are difficult to achieve in defense, which is why the Rockets have been losing, last season 82 games, the Rockets only won 22 games, but this season the Rockets so far, their winning rate has already exceeded 50%, even if the Rockets are currently three consecutive defeats, but their overall performance is still much better than last season.
But in the last two games, the Rockets' defensive end suddenly seems to be unable to play, whether it is Alperen Shenjing on the inside or Jalen Green on the outside, they have lost themselves on the defensive end. The Rockets, in particular, received bad news ahead of their game against the Hawks, with their defensive forward Tari Eason not playing for this game due to injury.
Without Ethan, the Rockets have one less bench forward who can average nearly 10 points per game, and what is more troublesome is that Tari Eason's defense is one of the best in the Rockets, without Ethan's basket protection on the inside, without his assistance defense on the inside, without his conversion defense, without his oppressive defense on the outside, the Rockets' defense in this game was blown up by the Hawks, which is a normal result.
Although Tari Eason is usually just a backup forward for the Rockets, through this game, we have all seen who is one of the most important players of the Rockets, and the role of Tari Eason in the Rockets' tactical system is greater than that of Jalen Green and Shen Jing, the two core players of the class of 2021.
The Rockets' defense is abnormal, and the only thing they can expect now is that Udoka adjusts his tactics as soon as possible and improves the Rockets' defensive tactics in a timely manner, especially Shen Jing needs to be strengthened in terms of changing defenses, and urging the players to defend with their hearts and strengthen their defense while opening up the vitality of the offensive end, especially for Shen Jing, his speed on the inside is too slow, if he can't do a good job of changing defenses, then Udoka should reduce Shen Jing's playing time.
Especially at the critical moment in the fourth quarter, Udoka could have used Jabari Smith Jr. and Jeff Green to play the Rockets' interior line. Fortunately, Eason's injury doesn't look serious, and the Rockets' defense should be better when he returns for the next game. But only Eason can't solve the problem, and improving the defense of Jalen Green and Shin Jing can help the Rockets win more games in future games.