In less than three weeks, the Rockets have gone from being one of the top teams in the Western Conference to facing a sharp decline that has them dropping in the standings.
Their 116-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday marked their sixth straight defeat. During this stretch, Houston went from holding the second spot in the West to now being tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the fourth seed, technically behind them in percentage points, and behind the Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets.
The Rockets are set to host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, urgently needing a win. The positive momentum Houston had built with three straight wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics late last month has faded due to injuries. While they managed without Jabari Smith Jr. (hand), the absence of Alperen Sengun (calf) and Fred VanVleet (ankle) has been a major setback.
Sengun missed the first three games of the losing streak, but even though he has averaged 23.3 points and 12.7 rebounds since returning, the Rockets have struggled. VanVleet has missed four consecutive games, and Houston’s ball security has worsened in his absence. Amen Thompson has committed 15 turnovers while taking on more responsibilities in the offense.
Thompson was named Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for January, but with so many injuries, his workload and that of others has increased.
“The injuries have hurt us more than guys being tired,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Everybody is going to be tired, both teams on the floor; it’s that time of year.
Toronto Raptors (NBA)You miss Alpi for those three games and obviously Fred is probably our most important player as far as getting us organized and calming everything down when things are going wrong. That would be more of a factor than just guys on the court because everybody is feeling that.”
The Raptors began their three-game road trip with a 121-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, their fourth loss in five games after a season-best five-game winning streak.
With RJ Barrett (concussion), Jakob Poeltl (hip), and Brandon Ingram (ankle) — who was acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans at the trade deadline — all out for the game against the Thunder, the Raptors had four rookies (Jamison Battle, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, and Ja’Kobe Walter) and second-year guard Gradey Dick in their rotation. The Raptors, now 20 games below .500, are focusing more on player development for the time being.
“It’s really focusing on a lot of young guys who are getting extended minutes,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “There are small things that we’re striving for. There are a lot of small details that we’re trying to work on, like focusing on our improvement. It’s helpful that we’re playing against some really good teams because that will push us to play extremely hard and use those lessons.”
