NEW YORK — This story isn’t a new one, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka said after a Saturday loss to the New York Knicks.
“We’ve lost too many games like this,” he admitted.
In a season filled with head-scratching moments in late-game situations, the Rockets may have suffered their biggest collapse yet in a 108-106 defeat to the Knicks on Saturday. After going into the fourth quarter with a 16-point lead, Houston made only 5 of 18 from the field and turned the ball over nine times in the final period.
There were stretches when it seemed like New York had no answers for what the Rockets were doing on either end of the floor. But ultimately, the bad habits that have cost Houston in most of its losses this season crept up during the worst times.
As bad as Saturday’s loss was, it wasn’t a one-off for the Rockets. It wasn’t just a night when things didn’t go their way. This type of poor execution during the most important moments of the game has been part of the fabric of this Rockets roster. It’s who they’ve been all season, and it’s the biggest hurdle that’s currently standing between them and true title contention.
“In a lot of our games when we’re up 10, 12, 14, we just give it away because we don’t play with that dominant trait,” said Rockets All-Star Kevin Durant, who finished Saturday’s loss with 30 points on 10-of-26 shooting. “I thought, in the first three quarters, we played with more pace. In the fourth quarter, we were just stagnant to start. It gave them momentum. We were giving up layups and turnovers. I just think we relaxed a bit coming into the fourth quarter.”
After all the online chatter that’s surrounded this team over the past week involving Durant’s alleged burner account on X, it’s easy to point to a game like this and question Houston’s team chemistry, whether this group is willing to do what it takes to come together when adversity strikes — and if they even care enough to find a solution to the problem.
When a team looks as disjointed as the Rockets have in crucial moments, it’s tough to push back on anyone who questions if the issues in Houston are much deeper than not having a true point guard to run the offense.
However, those cynics didn’t sound as enlightened when the Rockets were up 18 early in the fourth quarter Saturday night. They weren’t as vocal when the Rockets outscored the Knicks by a combined 70-48 during the second and third quarters. They were silent after a tough-nosed win in Charlotte on Thursday.
Despite all the noise, the interactions with this team in the locker room and on the floor seem no different than what they were earlier in the season. In fact, after Saturday’s loss, Durant and several of his teammates were spotted conversing in the locker room about what they could’ve done better and how they need to avoid losses like this in the future.
That’s the most important thing moving forward: Games like this need to bring them closer together, not further apart.
But there’s no denying these results as they continue to pile up.
Saturday’s loss marked the fourth time this season the Rockets blew a game after leading by double digits in the fourth quarter. That doesn’t include their loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 22 after leading by nine points with less than seven minutes left in the fourth.
Houston is 14-16 this season in “clutch” games, when the score is within five points in the final five minutes. That means 16 of the Rockets’ 21 losses this season have come in games that were within their grasp in the final minutes.
“We’ve been too much in a hurry. Even on a lot of kick-outs, it’s bobbled balls, the turnovers in the pick-and-roll,” Udoka said. “But also, playing in a crowd. We’ve got to understand scouting reports, and teams are going to make plays. Those (turnovers) and bad shots, the combination, kind of doomed us in the fourth quarter.
“Turnovers are always the culprit with us.”
The turnovers are what truly make this team almost unwatchable in fourth quarters. They don’t exactly play a beautiful brand of basketball most of the time, and when the game slows down, it seems like they can barely get into an offensive set.
In “clutch” situations, the Rockets are turning the ball over on 16.3 percent of their possessions this season, which ranks 29th in the NBA. The only team below them is the Portland Trail Blazers.
When those moments arrive, creating good shots has been tough enough for this team, given its isolation-heavy style of play. But too often, they don’t even get a shot at the rim when the intensity goes up. And those giveaways only fuel their opponents on the other end with layups or open 3-pointers.
If the Rockets are going to beat teams more consistently in those situations, they have to stop beating themselves, first and foremost.
When asked what his team needs to do better in those moments, Durant responded, “Keep it simple.”
“In the third quarter, we were attacking the guys we needed to attack. We were moving the basketball. We weren’t holding it too long. We were catching and shooting. Guys were driving and kicking,” he continued. “I thought in that fourth (quarter), we held it too long. We were trying to get our game going at the top of the key. We didn’t run into screens fast enough. We didn’t get separation on screens fast enough.”
New York’s Mitchell Robinson defends Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. during Saturday’s game at Madison Square Garden. (Ishika Samant / Getty Images)
So often, when this team’s lack of execution has come into question, Udoka and several others have pointed to the absence of veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, who has been sidelined all season with a torn right ACL, and how much his understanding of the game would make a huge difference.
VanVleet’s ability to identify certain matchups and keep the ball moving has been missed, and in all likelihood, he isn’t coming back this season. Houston has to look elsewhere for answers. In particular, the young guard combination of Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard has to grow up quickly before the playoffs begin in a couple months.
Udoka pointed out after Saturday’s loss that both Thompson and Sheppard have to be more demonstrative as point guards to get teammates into the right spots and to run offensive sets that take advantage of certain matchups when those moments arrive. As great as Durant can be as a shot maker in “clutch” moments, he’s always been at his best when he plays next to a point guard who can help get him the ball in the right spots at the end of games.
Although Thompson and Sheppard are clearly at the early stages of their respective careers, Houston needs both of them to grow up fast so this team can have a chance at making a deep run in the Western Conference.
“I’ve got to be able to get us into something. Not just (isolations),” said Thompson, who finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. “But I’m still learning. I’ve got to be better in that aspect, too.”
But it’s not just Thompson. Houston as a whole has to be better — and that includes their 16-time All-Star who has become the face of the franchise.
It’s difficult for those not in the locker room to paint a full picture of how this team is handling all the online chatter that’s been following them lately. But it doesn’t take much to see how glaring this team’s No. 1 weakness is. That weakness could become a fatal flaw if left unaddressed.
Houston has the talent to win in the West. But talent means nothing if you can’t execute in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a lesson learned. Something we can keep growing from,” Durant said. “It’s a vital time for us to keep growing and keep getting better.”