Stephen Silas’ message to his young Rockets after defeating the Suns was that the...
Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green drives past Phoenix Suns forward Dario Saric during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, in Phoenix. SAN FRANCISCO — For the Rockets, this week’s four-game West Coast road trip against the two top teams in the Western Conference and the defending NBA champions is as good a litmus test as any stretch so far this season.
And so when the Rockets rebounded from two blowout losses to the Nuggets and engineered a comeback from down 16 points to beat the Suns on Friday night in Phoenix, Houston’s third win in five games and biggest of the season, coach Stephen Silas’ message to his young team was that the result mattered less than how they achieved it.
“We showed a lot of character. We showed a lot of fight like we have all season and it paid off,” Silas said before the Rockets’ game against the Warriors on Saturday. “And if we play that way, then we'll have more success — not even in wins and losses, just how we feel about ourselves after games. So I don't want to make it to where we played a good game because we won. We played a good game, because we did the right things.
Booker missed a 16-foot jump shot at the buzzer, but two Suns offensive rebounds earlier had missed another shot with 9.2 seconds remaining. His first miss was the result of lockdown defense by Rockets guard Jalen Green, who similarly came up with a clutch defensive possession against Trae Young in the Rockets’ win over the Hawks a week earlier.
“He was aggressive, and that's important,” Silas said of Green. “I think the thing that stood out to me most was the fact that he wanted to guard Booker in the second half, and that's a big step. So he was chasing him and pressuring him and making it as hard as you can make it on Booker. Booker still had 41 and whatnot. But the defensive effort that Jalen gave in that game in particular, is a big step for him.
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