The Houston Rockets never trailed in their 111-97 victory over the Suns on Tuesday night. This was a much-needed win for the Rockets, who haven’t shown much potential this season. Jalen Green led the way for Houston with 26 points, and Kevin Porter Jr. added 18. The Rockets were led by Stephen Silas in this game, as he returned to the coach after missing the previous game following his father’s death.
Suns Continue Losing Skid
Sunday night proved to be another successful game for the Rockets, who beat Milwaukee for the second consecutive victory. Despite being -5.5 point underdogs on FanDuel, the growing talents show up and serve the Suns an unstoppable offense.
It was a nightmare for the Suns as they lost their fifth straight. Both Deandre Ayton and Cameron Payne were injured midway through the first half. With Ayton sustaining an injury to his left ankle and Payne with a right foot injury, the Suns had a rocky start and the rockets never looked back, and there is one point where the lead ballooned to 23.
Meanwhile, Mikal Bridges scored 18 points, but he only shot a poor 4 of 24 from the field and 2 of 10 from 3-point range – but made all eight free-throw attempts. Chris Paul added 17 points on 5 of 17 shooting including 2 of 10 beyond the arc. As they move forward, it will be interesting to see how this setback affects their future games.
Young Rockets Explodes
The Rockets were able to take full advantage of their opportunity, starting the game with a 7-point lead. Their success continued into the end of the first half, leading 54-35 as they outscored their opponents in a struggle that saw Phoenix make only 11 of 50 attempted shots, as well as 4 of 24 3-pointers.
Phoenix attempted to turn it around at one point reaching 11 points behind before being beaten back by Houston’s five consecutive points resulting in a 98-82 score margin. Phoenix’s 5th-ranked 3-point shooting league percentage failed them when attempting 13 of 51 shots for only 25.5% accuracy.
After stumbling throughout the first 25 games, the Rockets have truly found their footing by securing back-to-back home wins against Milwaukee and Phoenix. During these wins, one of the strongest aspects of their game was holding opponents to an average of 94.5 points per game; a vast difference from earlier in the season when they held opponents below 100 points just twice.
Up Next
Phoenix Suns travel to Los Angeles and face the Clippers on Thursday night, while Houston Rockets will host the Miami Heat on Thursday.
