2 points for the bench killer! The Rockets ended a four-game losing streak by the Eastern Conference powerhouse
From February 13th to 24th, 2023 Beijing time, the NBA season officially began, and the Houston Rockets will sit at home against the New York Knicks, against a strong team from the East. Some time ago, the Rockets didn't play well, and after the last time they were defeated by the Hawks, their four opponents were four, and now they are 12th in the West, 23-29. The Knicks have been underwhelming lately, losing three of their first four league games, two against the Mavericks and Pacers. They are now 33-20 and fourth in the East, but they don't have much of an advantage.
VanVleet, Whitmore, Essien still not playing, DeLong, Smith, Shenkin, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson made up the starting lineup; For the Knicks, the starting five are Brunson, DiVincenzo, Achewa, Hart, and Sims.
In the first quarter, the Knicks hit their first goal, but the Rockets hit a small climax, and then they started to fight back. The Knicks were mediocre in the quarter, shooting poorly, spending most of the time on offense, and he only scored six goals, which cost the team 22 points in the first quarter. The Rockets hit only four of their seven shots, and also made one shot by breaking through the basket, causing the team to drop 29 points in one quarter; Jalen Green made 1 of 5 shots and 6 free throws to finish with 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block. At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets ended the game with a seven-point advantage;
The second quarter of the game was still going on, and the Knicks were still in poor shape in this quarter, and the Rockets seized this opportunity to further expand the point difference. In this quarter, the Rockets failed to shoot five times from the perimeter, and they lost the ability to shoot and could only rely on a breakthrough to the basket. In this quarter, the Rockets were almost invincible, Smith made 2 of 4 shots, 4 of 5, and scored 8 points; In this quarter, Shen Jing was almost invincible, hitting two free throws, one of two free throws, and also scored six points and three assists. After the first half of the game, the Rockets took a 14-point advantage at 57-43;
Another game, this quarter, Houston once again came to a standstill, and the Knicks seized their chance again. In this quarter, the Rockets fell into a slump, hitting only one three-pointer, and the restricted area was also suppressed, shooting only 5 three-pointers, and the team successfully narrowed the gap to 17 points; After the Knicks' three-point shot, the Rockets' paint layer took a hard hit, and they scored 11 points in the first quarter. After three quarters of fierce battle, the two sides ended with a score of 71-74, while Houston led by three points;
In the final stages of the game, the Knicks also lost momentum in the first half, and the Rockets used this opportunity to extend the score again; A-Holiday delivered a three-pointer for Deron to push the gap to double digits! Bogdanovic went blue again, Dillon hit another three-pointer, and the Knicks quickly pulled the score close to six points, followed by another cold arrow! After a brief pause from the Knicks, Brunson made a layup to extend the score to 2 points! Brunson scored another goal and the two teams were tied with 8 remaining3 seconds! After the game, A. Holiday blew a three-pointer and Brunson was shot. One second more! Holiday hit two of three free throws to end a four-game losing streak with a 105-103 win over the Knicks, who also lost three.
Facts: All five players were in double figures: Delon scored 23 points, five rebounds and one assist on 6-of-7 shooting. Smith had 20 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Shen Jing scored 18 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists. Jalen Green had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Amen Thompson had eight points, 13 rebounds and five assists. A. Holiday had 18 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.