On January 17, Beijing time, the NBA's new season regular season continued in full swing. The Houston Rockets, which are currently in the rebuilding phase, have also ushered in back-to-back away games against the Kings. Without the proud superstar players, the Rockets can no longer win as proudly as in the past, after being crushed by the Kings in the previous game, and ushering in the second game, and even the possibility of double killing, once unable to establish a great advantage. So, how is the competition between the two sides? Let's wait and see.
At the start of the game, the away Rockets took the lead in getting into the form and achieved a feat of domination. Wood shot 4-of-7 in the first quarter and was not only able to deliver a key 10 points, but also 7 rebounds and 1 steal. Because of Wood's explosive stats, the Rockets also took advantage of the 29-21 score, taking an 8-point lead. However, after taking the lead at the beginning, the Rockets, who entered the second quarter of the showdown, did not follow the trend and continued to widen the point difference between the two teams, but suffered a crazy blow from the Kings.
Fox returned in form, with an efficient output of 5 of 4 in a single quarter, delivering a comprehensive stat of 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Barnes was also in good shape, also 3 of 3 shots in a single quarter, sending 8 points and 1 steal, and Terrance Davis, who handed over 8 points and 5 assists. With the three of them in a row, the Kings actually played a 39-26 single-quarter score, not only recovering the 8 points behind in the first quarter, but also taking a 5-point lead with a 60-55 score at halftime. The situation reversed, and the lead created by the Rockets in the first quarter was lost.
Easy to fight again, the Rockets can naturally counterattack. In the third quarter of the showdown, Wood continued to threaten, and handed over 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists plus 1 steal and 1 block of the comprehensive data, leading the team to a 30-28 score, chasing back the first half of the 2 points behind. By the time they reached the crucial final-quarter showdown, the gap had narrowed to three points, and the Kings still had the lead. The situation became more and more tense, and the Rockets, who had achieved good results in the fourth quarter of the regular showdown, were able to beat the drum, playing a single quarter score of 33-24 and winning the game with a total score of 118-112.
Looking back at the game, the Kings had six players who scored in double digits, and the overall performance was relatively good. Among them, Hield, who played as a substitute, even in the 30 minutes of playing, with an efficient output of 9 of three points and 9 of 16 shots, he sent a game-high score of 27 points, as well as 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Not only that, but there is also a rookie Mitchell who came off the bench, and also has a data performance of 16 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. However, on the other hand, the Rockets, who won the game on the road and refused to double-kill, the performance of their players was even better.
Wood had a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds, Porter Jr. also had 23 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, and Matthews, who came off the bench, also contributed 17 points. In fact, there is a better starter on the Rockets side, and that's Eric Gordon, 33. In this game, he played 32 minutes, but in the process of delivering 25 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, he helped the team to win the opponent's key 26 points (the highest in the game), and the efficiency value was still very efficient. Not only that, as early as the previous away challenge to the Spurs, he had sent a key 31 points with an efficient shooting rate of 9 of 10 shots in a single game, helping the team lock in the victory of the game.
Perhaps, without the core of the team like Harden Paul, the rise of the Rockets will be a long time away, but we definitely have reason to believe that Gordon will also help the team shorten the reconstruction cycle with his charm and good strength.