The Rockets fought the road after 4 quarters, and finally narrowly defeated the Kings 118-112 to avoid losing 2 consecutive games, and 2 days ago, the two sides just met once, and the Rockets finally lost to the opponent, so this game is considered to be revenge.
The Rockets once again played a team-style victory, with six players on the team scoring in double figures and performing very well on the offensive end, Wood contributing 23 points and 14 rebounds, Porter Jr. 23 points and 7 assists, Jaylen Green 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Tate 10 points and 4 rebounds, substitute Matthews 17 points, and the most impressive was undoubtedly veteran Eric Gordon.
Gordon started 32 minutes in this game, 6 of 11 shots, 5 of 5 three-pointers, 1 of 1 free throw, and finally contributed 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, this data is just Gordon's regular level, it looks ordinary, but in fact, to be able to win, Gordon is indispensable, and even the team's number one contributor.
In the whole game, although Gordon's score was not the highest on the team, his plus-minus was as high as +26, ranking first in the team, which means that when Gordon was on the court, the Rockets beat their opponents by as many as 26 points. The second in the plus-minus team is Jessien Tate and Green, both of whom have plus-minus of +8, which is still a big gap from Gordon's +26. Such a thriving plus-minus also largely reflects the great help that Gordon's offensive and defensive roles brought to the team when he was on the field. In the fourth quarter, his two key offenses also became the key to rewriting the trend of the game.
With 8 minutes and 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Gordon took the front of the arc after taking shenjing cover, directly shot in the face of defense, the ball hit steadily, and the rocket rebounded 95-92, this goal helped the rocket team take the lead for the first time in the fourth quarter.
With 47 seconds left in the final quarter, the Kings chased the score to 112-114, then Porter's offense missed, Green grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Gordon, the veteran did not panic after receiving the ball, directly chose to break through and complete the low hand layup in the face of the defense at the top of the arc, helping the Rockets to pull the score to 116-112 with 12.5 seconds left, and this time point led by 4 points, almost directly locking up the victory.
These two key offenses precisely reflect the role of Gordon in key moments, and his big heart helped the Rockets finally win the game, like the team's needle.
So far this season, Gordon has been excellent, averaging 14.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, shooting 45.5% from 3-point range, and still being able to get such data when the number of shots dropped to the lowest 10.3 times in his career, which is enough to prove that Gordon's form is still very good. But unfortunately, today's Gordon is no longer compatible with the rocket's situation, one is a veteran who wants to continue to win the championship, and the other is a team that has entered a long period of rotten reconstruction, and the fate of the two sides is gradually coming to an end.
For the Rockets, perhaps the best way to watch Gordon perform so well is to trade him away as soon as possible, so that the veteran can go to a team with championship strength and continue to play his residual heat, rather than staying on the team with a group of young players and wasting the few peak hours left. At present, Gordon is at the time when the value of the transaction is maximized, and recently the media revealed that many teams are expected to pursue Gordon, and the Suns have already had a trade discussion with the Rockets.
I don't know which other teams are, but it's clear that the Suns are definitely one of Gordon's best underlings. At present, the Suns have the first record in the league, the team has once again shown excellent competitive strength under the leadership of Paul, if they can bring in Gordon, they will be like a tiger, and Paul and Gordon have had 2 years of cooperation experience with the Rockets, and this time they have joined forces again, and they obviously have a good chance to achieve their dream of winning the championship together.