The Rockets don't score 22 points! Green is out again and Whitmore is out injured
On February 10, the first day of the Lunar New Year, Beijing time, I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. The NBA regular season continues, and the Rockets go ahead to challenge the Raptors. These two teams represent two extremes in recent trade history. The Rockets currently sit in 12th place in the Western Conference with a 23-27 record, and in order to make a push for the playoffs, Ucevic urged the team to make a trade to make up for the losses. However, the attitude of the Rockets management is to be more patient, acknowledging that Udoka's coaching ability can lead the team, but also wants to give the youngsters more time. According to reporter Ai***, the Rockets are ready for a big move this summer, and Jalen Green is likely to start his own turning point this summer. As for Shen Jing, Xiao Jia, Eason and Whitmore, the Rockets will definitely not let any of them go. Ethan has missed 20 consecutive games due to a calf injury.
This is the main reason for the decline in the Rockets' record since 24, and Ethan's absence has directly led to the decline in the Rockets' defense. The Raptors were previously ranked 12th in the East with 18 wins and 33 losses, and at the trade deadline, they traded a 24-year first-round pick + small man Lewis + Otto Porter from the Jazz for Olynyk + Abaraki; Traded Schroder + Thaddeus Young for Dinwiddie, in addition to refusing to trade Bruce Brown, preferring to cut him outright. The Raptors' series of operations is puzzling, they don't intend to mess up, otherwise it is impossible to trade the first-round pick for a player who can play, but why give up Dinwiddie for nothing? The Rockets' starters are Amen Thompson + Jalen Green + Deron + Jabari Smith + Shen Jing.
Raptors starting fast break + Trent + Bamot + Barnes + Bolts. At the beginning, Bolts ate Shen Jing alone, Bamot counterattacked and scored a layup, Delon and Amon chased 4 points in a row, Bolts continued to play strongly under the basket, and Shen Jing faced this kind of strength inside, and the confrontation was a little weak. Bamot and Quigley blossomed inside and out, stopping the Rockets. Quigley continued to kill in the midcourt, Shin Kyung finally grabbed the rebound, and Jabari Smith was bullied and responded with a strong attack, but the Rockets couldn't stop Bolts. Brooks had three early fouls, and Quigley helped the team easily close the 13-point gap. In the second half, Shen Jingzao fouled free throws to stop the bleeding, Aaron Holiday and Whitmore led the Rockets to score off the bench, and on the Raptors' side, Bruce Brown and Dick blossomed inside and out.
After the first quarter, the Rockets were 20-34 Raptors, the Rockets made 7 mistakes in a single quarter, Jalen Green made too many mistakes, and Shen Jingsi was almost polished. Back in the second quarter, Whitmore made 3 three-pointers in a row, Jeff Green made a three-pointer, Tate bullied Bruce Brown, plus Whitmore and Jabari Smith's three-pointers, the Rockets seized the opportunity to hit a wave of 16-2 in 3 minutes to tie the score! Then Holiday hit a mid-range shot to overtake, and at the critical moment, the Clippers and Bruce Brown stopped the bleeding and scored six points in a row, Bamot responded to the bloodless Holiday and Jalen Green finally hit a three-pointer. Waiting for the Rockets to return to the main line, Trent and Bamot continued to rain three-pointers, the Raptors opened up the gap again, Whitmore hit a three-point shot to stop the bleeding, and Quigley and Trent continued to shoot from the outside.
The Rockets' offense almost relied on Whitmore, and at the end of the first half, the Raptors led 49-61, Whitmore scored 17 points, Shen Jing had 4 points and 5 rebounds, Jalen Green had 5 points, and Delon had 2 points, and there were no starters. In the second half, Bolts and Cuiglé blossomed inside and out, building a 22-point lead! The Rockets couldn't score in the first few minutes, and Amen and Jalen Green scored six straight points to stop the bleeding, and Holiday and Dick bombarded with three-pointers, and the two teams battled together to maintain a 20-point lead. At the end of the period, Brooks and Holiday hit three points in a row, and Bolts, who once chased 14 points, ate a pass, and Brooks continued to kill. Porter reopened the score with a dunk + three points in the bottom corner. At the end of the third quarter, the Raptors trailed 71-88.
In the fourth-quarter matchup, Barnes led the team to a 19-point lead, but Jeff Green + Bullock responded with a three-pointer. Jabari Smith then hit another three-pointer to stop the Raptors. Quigley stopped the bleeding with back-to-back singles, while Jeff Green and Bullock continued to rain three-pointers to narrow the margin to single digits. In the final five minutes, Brooks hit two three-pointers in a row, Barnes responded with a layup, and Bamot scored a dunk. In the last 2 minutes, the Rockets successfully narrowed the difference, but at the last moment, Jeff Green's three-pointer and Brooks' three-pointer narrowed the gap to only 1 point, Bamot hit both free throws, Jeff Green hit a three-point shot, and the Rockets finally defeated the Raptors 104-107 without a 22-point reversal.
According to the Rockets, Whitmore played only 18 minutes, scored 17 points and three rebounds, and then left the game with an injury. Brooks had 20 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Jabari Smith 12 points and 11 rebounds, Holiday 12 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, Shen Jing had 7 points and 7 rebounds, and Jalen Green had 7 points and 4 turnovers on 3-of-11 shooting. Jeff Green had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Raptors stats, Barnes 13 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, Clippers 25 points, Bruce Brown 11 points and 3 rebounds, Bolts 16 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 6 turnovers. Jalen Green was dropped again in the fourth quarter, and with his current play, he may not be traded for a first-round pick until this summer, let alone as a major bargaining chip for a star.