The Houston Rockets worked hard to make the most of their chance in the final game of a long season’s worth of extended road trips.
The Rockets, on the other hand, continued a pattern that has come to define their youthful roster as the fourth quarter began. In their 123-114 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, Houston gave up 37 points in the final period. This ended the Rockets’ five-game road trip without a win and made it their seventh loss in a row.
Following a three-game homestand that begins on Friday with a matchup against the Detroit Pistons, the Rockets (18-59) will play two games on the road in Charlotte and Washington to conclude the regular season.
The stakes are low for Houston and the Pistons (16-60), who, along with the San Antonio Spurs, have the three worst records in the league. As a result, they have the same 14% chance of getting one of the first-round picks in the NBA Draft, which is likely going to be Victor Wembanyama, a French big man.
Despite having the league’s worst record the previous two seasons, the Rockets finished second and third in the draft lottery, respectively, and used those picks to select Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. in succession. This season, their young team has struggled to win, but they have shown signs of cohesion, especially down the stretch.
Kevin Porter Jr. led the Nets with 31 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals, and all five starters—none of whom were younger than 22—scored in double figures in the defeat. Despite their collective inexperience, the Rockets have consistently displayed admirable moxie, and their performance against Brooklyn demonstrated that they haven’t given up despite the season coming to an end.
Any chance the Pistons had of avoiding the bottom of the league standings was undermined by injuries, particularly those sustained by Cade Cunningham, a second-year guard. The Pistons leaned even more heavily into an ongoing rebuild with a number of younger players who don’t necessarily fit as puzzle pieces when you factor in the trade of forward Saddiq Bey to the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline.
Detroit, which has lost 16 of its last 17 games since the All-Star break, has had a rough stretch. On Wednesday, when they played the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pistons were without six rotation players, but they persevered until they were unable to secure a defensive rebound just before the final buzzer, which resulted in a 107-106 defeat.
It was a monumental effort in light of their roster deficiencies and injury attrition. Even so, the outcome was still painful.
