Rockets aim to bounce back and improve against the Nets in Houston

The Houston Rockets, usually one of the NBA’s better defensive teams, are struggling to protect the paint and are in the middle of their longest losing streak of the season. They’ll try to stop their three-game skid when they face the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in Brooklyn.

While Houston’s defense ranks sixth in the league, allowing just 108.8 points per game, they’ve allowed 118 points in each of their last three games. In their 124-118 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday, the Rockets gave up 80 points in the paint and allowed 46 points in the fourth quarter.

On Saturday, they gave up 60 points in the paint during a 110-98 loss to the Nets, and they allowed 72 points in the paint in a 120-119 loss to Memphis last Thursday. On average, the Rockets have allowed 48.9 points in the paint this season.

These struggles have come with center Alperen Sengun missing the last few games due to a left calf bruise. Sengun had been playing in every game until his injury on January 28 against the Atlanta Hawks. Without him, the Rockets have had trouble defensively.

After their loss to New York on Monday, coach Ime Udoka said the team was “very soft and uncompetitive defensively,” adding that they had trouble with rebounding, not doing their assignments, and letting players get easy baskets.

Sengun might miss Tuesday’s game as well. If so, Jae’Sean Tate and Steven Adams will likely take most of the minutes at center. Tate played 22 minutes on Monday and Adams played 26. The Rockets will also be without Fred VanVleet, who is week-to-week after injuring his right ankle on Saturday.

Tari Eason started in place of VanVleet on Monday and scored 12 points. The team was led by Amen Thompson’s triple-double: 25 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds.

On the other hand, the Brooklyn Nets are hoping to win three straight games for the second time this season and break their 11-game home losing streak. Their last home win was on December 4, 2023, when they beat the Indiana Pacers. Since then, they’ve been struggling with a 7-23 record and have failed to score 100 points in their last nine home games.

Brooklyn’s home losing streak is the third-longest in franchise history, with only two longer streaks (14 games in 2010 and 16 games in 2017). They’ll try to end the skid by continuing to give more minutes to their younger players, as Cameron Johnson (right ankle) will miss his fifth straight game. Johnson’s name has also come up in trade rumors ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

Coach Jordi Fernandez remains optimistic, saying after Monday’s practice that the team’s energy was great. He added that while players might be thinking about trade talks, they’re focused on getting through it together and seeing how things unfold.

The Nets are hoping their performance from Saturday, where they shot 49.4% from the field and had six players score in double figures in a 104-83 win over Charlotte, can carry over into Tuesday’s game.