Houston Rockets: When Rock Bottom Comes In A Win
By Duncan Smith
On Friday night, the Houston Rockets gutted out a tough win against the moribund Philadelphia 76ers, one of the worst teams in the recent history of the NBA.
We’ve all heard of moral victories, when one team performs valiantly in the face of adversity and learns something grand about themselves in the wake of a tough and usually close loss.
I don’t know what the opposite of a moral victory would be called, but it happened Friday night for the Houston Rockets in their 116-114 victory at home over the still-winless 0-17 Philadelphia 76ers.
The Rockets performed anything but valiantly, and the only lessons learned were most sobering indeed. There is nothing grand about this team right now, and we’re learning the depths of that on a game-by-game basis.
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The Rockets led by as much as 14 points halfway through the third quarter, and by nine points at the start of the fourth quarter.
It took less than four minutes for the Sixers– who have one of the worst offenses in the NBA’s recent history, scoring just 91.4 points per 100 possessions– to erase that deficit and take a 97-96 lead.
The Sixers surged out to a 104-97 lead, continuing the Rockets’ inability to hold teams below 102 points.
The Rockets have still only held one team below 102 points this season, and that was a 96-84 loss to Memphis
— Duncan Smith (@DuncanSmithNBA) November 28, 2015
For those keeping track at home, it took the worst offense in the NBA five minutes and 19 seconds to drop 22 points on the Rockets’ defense, which has fallen to fourth-worst in the NBA, surrendering 106.3 points per 100 possessions.
Let’s discuss what went wrong and what went right in this win that almost wasn’t.
Next: Corey Brewer