On the morning of January 7, the NBA regular season continued, and the Rockets continued to sit at home, playing back-to-back games against the Bucks. Yesterday's game, the team swallowed a heavy defeat, morale is poor, this time against a strong opponent in the East standings, the hope of winning is still slim. In terms of starters, the Rockets have not changed, and several main players will need to play more convincing performances to have a chance of victory.
In the first quarter, Shen Jing didn't score a layup, and Tate didn't score a basket. Brother Alphabet scored with a smash on the left side, and Shen Jingzhong shot an iron. Brother Alphabet scored a pick-and-roll, and the Bucks were weak on offense after that. The Rockets played steadily, quickly widening the gap and increasing the advantage to more than 10 points. In the second quarter, the Rockets did not give the Bucks a chance to get close to the score, Whitmore came off the bench and performed extremely bravely, and Shin Jing and Green also had good shapes. After halftime, the Rockets ended the contest with a score of 63-43.
In the second half, the Bucks just woke up from a big dream, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack with a mediocre effect, and ended the game with a score of 108-112 when chasing points step by step. The Rockets broke the upset, VanVleet had 14 points and 7 assists, and Shin Jing scored 21 points and 11 boards. Bench wonder Whitmore shot 4-of-6, 1-of-1 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 minutes and 3 rebounds and play just 12 minutes and 47 seconds. Jeff Green scored 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Aaron Holiday came off the bench to finish with 11 points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting.
Udoka admitted in an interview after the game that the team's two rookies, Amen Thompson and Whitmore, played well off the bench. They can contribute defensively, give a boost to the bench, have the pace and the attributes of versatile players.
When it comes to Jabari Smith, the head coach thinks he played well, and although he didn't score much, he defended very well in the second half. Sometimes he's defending Middleton and playing the perfect game.