The NBA regular season continued, with the West ushering in a strong and weak dialogue, and the Rockets sat at home to face the Timberwolves.
The Rockets are in full swing this season, ranking first in the West before the game, but after the team has no record pressure, a group of young players have played in excellent form, and the Forest team is one of the big dark horses in the West this season, ranking seventh in the West before the game.
In the case of a point difference of more than 20 points, the Rockets almost staged a big upset in the final quarter, which startled the Timberwolves into a cold sweat, but there was a controversial penalty at the critical moment, and the Rockets coaching staff contributed to the situation, and finally the Rockets lost the game 132-139.
Because the Rockets have no pressure to record, the game process does not have much discussion value, but losing is a choice for the Rockets to kill two birds with one stone.
Because the team has been in a mess all season, it is nothing more than wanting to get the bottom three positions in the league, because the bottom three positions can ensure that the team has the greatest probability of drawing the lottery.
Losing is naturally in their own hands, after losing this game, because the fourth-to-last thunder in the league won in front of them, the Rockets have locked the top three positions in the league three rounds in advance.
While the record is in tatters, the Rockets can also train more young players with one stone, rather than letting veterans control the court to ensure the team's record.
In fact, in the last 5 games, the Rockets have been firmly implementing this strategy, and veterans such as Schroeder, Wood and Gordon are in a long-term rotation.
This made the team hold back the young players for a whole season, and finally had a stage to show, although this game did not complete the upset, but a group of young players were brilliant.
Among them, the leader Green continued to be in a hot state, playing for 36 minutes, and in the case of the team being suppressed throughout the game and the scene was extremely inferior, he shot 12 of 18, 4 of 8 three-pointers, and bombed down 31 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists.
This is the sixth time this season that Jaylen Green has delivered a 30+ performance in a single game, making him the fourth rocket rookie to complete this feat since the 1983-84 season.
He is currently tied with Francis for third all-time rookie, top two being Hakim Olajuwon (9) and Ralph Sampson (9).
It is worth mentioning that since the Rockets let young players carry the flag, Green has completely let go of his hands and feet.
Counting the 31 points of this game, Green has scored 30+ in four consecutive games, a performance that leads the rookies of the same year and is comparable to the performances of Jordan and Iverson's rookies.
In the past six games, Green has averaged 29 points per game, averaging 12 three-pointers per game and shooting 45.8 percent from the field.
In addition to Green, Christopher, who came off the bench, was also remarkable, playing 30 minutes, shooting 11 of 14, and shooting a career-high 30 points, plus 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
In the crucial fourth quarter, Christopher shot 7-of-8 in a single quarter, and one person single-handedly won 19 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, almost helping the team complete a big comeback.
The two's proud performance also made Green and Christopher the first rookie teammates in NBA history to cut 30+ in the same game.
In contrast, Porter Jr. was somewhat inferior, playing 36 minutes, shooting 6-of-14, with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, but also made 8 turnovers.
Fortunately, the rest of the young players performed well enough, Shen Jing played 32 minutes, 5 of 7, handed over 14 points and 15 rebounds (a career high), 4 assists and 1 block.
Another rookie, Garruba, made 6 points and 6 rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting, and Martin Jr. also continued his fiery performance, handing over 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks on 4 shots.
It can only be said that the Rockets have won a big victory this season, not only swinging again to succeed, locking in the bottom three of the league, and will usher in a top new star.
It has also cultivated a number of young players with one stone, and the 4 rookies selected last year have all played out, of which the leader Green, substitute Christopher and the interior core Shen Jing have fully competitiveness.
In addition to these two goals, the Rockets also gave the ready-to-play players plenty of room to show in the early part of the regular season, and Wood, Gordon and Schroder, these potential chips, all played a role in the Rockets, facilitating the team's offseason trade, and the Rockets' 3 goals this season were all successfully achieved.