After beating the Los Angeles Lakers, the young Houston Rockets once again saw the hope of the play-offs, and the team is currently in 11th place in the West, with the Jazz and Lakers in front of them, both ahead of them by only 0With 5 wins, they are just one step away from the play-offs. The goal of the Rockets this season is simple, which is to make the playoffs, and if they can get a ticket to the playoffs, then of course it is success, and if they don't, they must also give it their all, and make this a career grind.
In this game, the Rockets welcomed the challenge of the New Orleans Pelicans at home. The Pelicans' young players have also gone through several seasons of grinding before returning to the playoff stage. Zion and Ingram, two young talents are the absolute core of the team, and in addition to this, the team also has players such as McCollum and Varan, which should not be underestimated.
Zion was absent in this game, but at the beginning of the first quarter, the Pelicans were dominated by the back, McCollum shot 3 of 4 three-pointers, Ingram got 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks, the team scored 33 points in a single quarter, the Rockets at home only scored 25 points, Jalen Green scored 13 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal on 5-of-7 shooting, and his teammates around him did not give enough help. After returning from the game in the second quarter, Jalen Green scored 7 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, Van Jordan scored 4 points and 4 assists, and Whitmore hit 2 three-pointers, and the team scored 29 points in a single quarter.
The Pelicans refused to overtake, and Wallan dominated the basket, scoring 10 points and 2 rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting, leading the team to 28 points in a single quarter, and at the end of the half, the Pelicans continued to lead the Rockets by 7 points at 61-54. In the second half, the Pelicans felt down, Ingram had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-7 shooting, while McCollum had 6 points and 3 rebounds, and the team only scored 23 points in a single quarter. The Rockets didn't take their chances, Jalen Green had eight points, two rebounds and two assists, but the team only scored 25 points, just narrowing the gap to five points.
In the final quarter of the game, the Pelicans did not give the Rockets any chance, and Varland made another effort, scoring 11 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-4 shooting, and the team once took a 20-point lead. The Rockets kept catching up, Van Jordan had 7 points and 3 rebounds, and Dillon also hit 2 three-pointers, but time was running out. In the end, the New Orleans Pelicans managed to beat the Houston Rockets 110-99.
The Rockets lost the game and were once again away from the play-offs, and Jalen Green continued to explode, shooting 11-of-20 and 5-of-12 from three-point range, with 31 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, but the team's boss Shin Jing, who only had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists on 4-of-11 shooting, was completely suppressed by Varan on the opposite side. Van Jordan had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, Dillon had 13 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, Whitmore on the bench scored 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and Amen Thompson had 10 points and 6 rebounds.
The Pelicans were able to win this game entirely by virtue of their interior advantage. At the end of the game, the Pelicans grabbed 56 rebounds, while the Rockets only had 29 rebounds, a gap of 27 rebounds, and there was no way to fill it anyway. Varland was the team's best player with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists on 10-of-15 shooting, Ingram also had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists on 9-of-19 shooting, McCollum had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Murphy had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist, and Marshall on the bench had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.