In the NBA universe, a lot can happen in a week. There can be blowout wins and nail biters, players returning from injury and new ones added to the injury list. Such is life in the NBA and the Houston Rockets are not immune.
Over the past week, they’ve seen a bit of all of that including a Kevin Durant game winner and a starter headed for the training room. Let’s recap.
Alperen Sengun Out
The Rockets starter will miss up to two weeks with an ankle sprain he got in the first minute of the game in Dallas. Sengun has been largely very very good for the Rockets. He leads the team in rebounds and assists, and is second in scoring. He has also dramatically improved his free throw shooting. But, he has had a couple of nagging injuries and, of course, participation is part of the grade. The good news is that it appears to be relatively mild, but he is such a key component of this team’s offense, they need him back as quickly as possible.
Steven Adams Back
Speaking of back, Adams, who has been in and out of the starting line up depending on matchups, returned from his own ankle injury on Monday night. His presence has been critical to the Rockets’ success all season long thanks to his defense and rebounding ability. He’s arguably the best rebounder in basketball and certainly the best on the offensive glass. Despite not being a primary scorer or even an everyday starter, Adams has become an important piece of the lineup.
Blowouts and a Strange Loss
The Rockets wiped out the Nets in Brooklyn and handled the Pacers with relative ease, but they coughed up a hair ball in Dallas against a very mediocre Mavs team. That is a pattern that has emerged with the Rockets occasionally falling to an inferior opponent. The culprit is often poor three point shooting (they shot a dreadful 24 percent from deep despite being the percentage leader in threes in the league) and lapses on defense. That combo is killer, even against bad NBA teams.
Durant Reminds Us He’s KD
He’s leading the team in scoring, which really isn’t a surprise, and putting up his normal 50-plus percent FG shooting, 40-plus percent three-point shooting and (almost) 90 percent at the line. But, it sometimes feels like we forget how great Durant is until he puts the team on his back and wins the game against the Suns with a dagger three. This season, he has been as good as advertised and the Rockets have integrated him perfectly.
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