The Pistons finally got a win against the Raptors, which means they will take on the Rockets in their next game on the road. This will make it much more difficult for Houston to win, as the Pistons have taken the pressure off and have a chance to beat the Rockets on the road as long as the players continue to play normally. The Pistons' morale is high, while the Rockets have suffered a three-game losing streak, and their two main forwards, Dillon and Smith Jr., will remain sidelined and are expected to return for another week.
In the upcoming games, the Rockets' main lineup will likely consist of a trio of Jalen Green, VanVleet and Alperen Shenjing. Tate and Jeff Green could lose their starting spots, and judging by the previous game against the Philadelphia 76ers, perhaps Tari Eason is better suited to be the starting forward for the Rockets. With Dillon and Jabari Smith Jr. sidelined, the Rockets' offensive trident became Shin Kyung, Jalen Green, and VanVleet.
In their game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Jalen Green scored 31 points, VanVleet had 33 points and 10 assists, and Shin Jing also had an excellent performance of 28 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, and the three core players contributed 92 points together. However, these three main players occupied too much possession and shots, resulting in a lack of offensive opportunities for other Rockets bench players, which is why they lost to the 76ers. The Rockets used to be known for team basketball, but at this juncture, that team basketball tactic seems to be gone.
Although Udoka tried to adjust his tactics proactively, the main reason was that the absence of Dillon and Smith caused the Rockets to struggle offensively. As a result, the Rockets can only let the offensive trident play the main offensive role, while the rest of the players need to take on more dirty work and defensive duties. Once the two forwards return, the Rockets will re-implement team basketball tactics, and each player's shot will become more balanced. The absence of Smith and Dillon Brooks forced Udoka to adjust his tactics because the previous team offensive tactics alone no longer worked.
In this game, it can be said that Udoka's tactics were almost successful, and in the first three quarters of the game, the Rockets led the 76ers all the time, only their overall defense relaxed in the final quarter, and at the same time, the 76ers' star guard Maxey played well, and no Rockets player could stop him. The Rockets failed to get the win in the final crunch time, in part due to their tactical set-up and VanVleet's failure to pass the ball to the in-form Green. It is foreseeable that this tactic of relying on the three players to attack and the other players to be mainly responsible for defense will continue for some time.
It won't be until Smith Jr. and Dillon return that the Rockets will revert to their previous winning tactics. This is also an adjustment that Udoka has to make, after all, with the loss of two main players, the Rockets have too few offensive players. They could only focus their limited shots on the three leading scorers.