The Houston Rockets are now 3-0 after winning on the road against the Hawks 121-114. Houston has had balanced scoring from everywhere and major contributions. They have shown their depth and ability to go to multiple different players to score. This is what makes the Rockets scary, they have a bunch of players that are able to have great scoring nights.
Houston Rockets Balanced Attack
Kevin Durant had 22 points and Tari Eason added 19 points. Houston had scoring from all over the place not putting too much on one guy to do most of it. Seven players scored in double digits displaying the balanced offensive attack from the Rockets. The ball was moving and they were finding the open player every time.
It is hard to guard a team that has this many players capable of scoring. When opposing defenses shut one option down, the Rockets have six more players that can make shots. This is a deep team with a lot of fire power. Teams aren’t able to relax at all when they have the ball and are forced to guard everyone tightly.
The Biggest Development
Reed Sheppard started in the game against the Hawks and impressed. I’m 30 minutes Sheppard had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. This coming after a game he did not play in due to injury. He took 11 three-pointers and made five of them. With Fred VanVleet not playing, he had his opportunity to show what he can do and was impressive.
Sheppard’s scoring and playmaking is crucial for the Rockets. Sheppard will come off the bench when VanVleet is playing, so to have a player come off the bench that can provide the playmaking and can score is important. Sheppard showed as a starter that he can do it, now he has to show Houston he can consistently do it with the bench unit too.
The Only Concern
Houston built a 20 point lead against Atlanta but saw it disappear a bit late. They have struggled a little keeping large leads in the three games. It’s not a major concern because they are 3-0, but eventually if they keep blowing big leads, they may lose one of these games. Even against the Spurs they were up double digits, then San Antonio went on a big run. We see this a lot with good teams, they take their foot off of the pedal and lighten up.
The Rockets need to do a better job of keeping their foot on the pedal and attacking every play that they are up big. Once teams are too comfortable with big leads and get nonchalant, opposing teams make their run. This being the only concern right now for the Rockets at the start of the season is a good thing. They have scorers and defenders all over the floor and on the bench. This is a problem that they can easily fix.
Three games is a small sample size, but this has shown how deep of a team Houston is. They may have fixed the problems that they were having last season. They have players all over that can go off. The Rockets have a rematch with the Hawks on October 26th. Let’s see if they can continue their hot start.
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