A brutal Pelicans comeback led to Houston’s worst loss of the season.
The Houston Rockets have all the momentum to bounce back from their nightmare overtime loss against the Denver Nuggets last Monday. They’ve led by as many as 25 in the first half and only needed a tight hold for the remainder of the ball game.
Instead, the Rockets had their worst loss of the season. And this Thursday was another forgettable finish as they endured a 133-128 overtime loss against the New Orleans Pelicans. Squandering that amount of lead against the NBA’s worst team while failing to pull it off in the five-minute extension aren’t the things you can definitely expect from this Houston team that is gunning for a title later in June. Yet in the end, Rockets fans can only watch a forgettable meltdown that now sends the group stumbling for the second consecutive overtime defeat.Even before the game has begun, the odds suggested that the Rockets would blow the Pels out with a big-time performance. And that looked to be the case early, as they led by as many as 25 points, in which Kevin Durant went off for a perfect 18 markers in 7-for-7 shooting at the half. Everything was already shaping up into a major Rockets win until they decided to forget playing winning basketball. The Rockets were trembled by the Pelicans’ late-game rally. And in the final frame, they got overwhelmed by the home team’s 36-20 blitz behind the brilliance of Saddiq Bey and Trey Murphy III.That served as the bottom line for the Rockets’ overtime loss against the Pelicans. When they are making their threes, they are one of the league’s best. And if not, tonight serves as a good example. Houston only nailed 10 of its 32 treys. Particularly, the three of Reed Sheppard , Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun missed most of their attempts.Jabari Smith Jr. With A Nightmare Shooting Performance The trio of Kevin Durant , Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson showed up against the Pels. But when it mattered the most, Jabari Smith Jr. was nowhere to be found. The Rockets forward had a horrible shooting performance across a team-high 44 minutes, finishing with just 12 points. He was 5-18 from the field and registered four turnovers. In crucial games like this against New Orleans, Smith Jr.’s production will always be pivotal for Houston. And if he fails to deliver, losses like this can only be expected.Andrei covers the NBA for the Rockets on SI. A hoop enthusiast based in the Philippines, he previously wrote for several outlets such as TalkBasket, Basketball Network and NBA Analysis Network.
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