While the Houston Rockets didn’t generate any style points with their first-half offensive performance against the New York Knicks on Monday, it was plenty good enough to produce a 16-point lead.
But when the Knicks imposed their will in the third quarter and started dominating via their defense and handiwork on the offensive glass, the Rockets faced a challenge to their collective toughness, a call they needed to answer given the four-game skid they carried into the contest.
Houston survived a pair of double-digit rallies from the Knicks and eked out a 105-103 victory that set the table to build a measure of momentum heading into the All-Star break. The Rockets will visit the injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday to complete the unofficial first half.
The Rockets will try to use the momentum of the win despite the controversy over the validity of the last-second foul call that sent Aaron Holiday to the line to win it. On Tuesday, the Knicks reportedly filed a protest with the league, after the game’s crew chief Ed Malloy said after the game that the foul on the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson “should not have been called.”
The Rockets were four games over .500 following a 103-96 win over Memphis on Dec. 15. They have been undermined by defensive regression and injuries since, and Houston would need a win on Wednesday to climb to within four games of .500.
The Rockets have been without reserve forward Tari Eason (leg) for an extended period and lost veteran guard Fred VanVleet (adductor) and standout rookie Cam Whitmore (ankle) recently. They have labored of late.
Already down a quartet of primary ballhandlers — Ja Morant (shoulder), Desmond Bane (ankle), Marcus Smart (finger) and Derrick Rose (ankle) — the Grizzlies lost Scotty Pippen Jr. to back soreness during their 96-87 loss to the Pelicans on Monday, their ninth consecutive defeat.
Injury attrition has come to define this season for Memphis, but the glut of absences at one position is crippling. When Pippen departed after posting six points and six assists in 25 minutes, it put the already short-handed Grizzlies in the position to rely on atypical options to run the offense.
It marked the latest obstacle for a team seemingly overwhelmed by them.
