The Warriors somehow managed to pull off an upset in Houston tonight as they defeated the Rockets 115-113 despite not having three of their star players: Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Kristaps Porzingis available tonight in a heavily depleted roster.
Following the game, the Rockets’ head coach, Ime Udoka, spoke to the media and addressed the game that was supposed to be an easy win for his team.
“Some switches. I mean, it was all game long on and off the ball. Not communicating, not being physical with the ball… It’s that stuff that we should have taken care of earlier this season, last year, whatever the case is,” said Udoka while pointing to the small mistakes that cost the Rockets big.
“And you know, play up and down to the level of our competition and let a team hang around, get the lead, and fight your way back and have your chances,” he further added with a subtle jab at the depleted Warriors for being lower competition presently.
“Still guarded well enough to win one-on-one with all the mistakes we made. Missed some shots, turnover, and one down the stretch. But lack of communication is the main culprit,” Udoka said as he pointed to the main issue.
“I feel like I’m louder than a lot of guys on the court from the sideline, and guys aren’t hearing it. Guys aren’t switching, getting hit unders and slip outs, and like I said, basic stuff that we should have taken care of by now.”
And it wasn’t just Udoka who felt this way. Kevin Durant also spoke to the media and resonated with Udoka’s sentiments. But he also added another layer to the issue, where it’s not just communication between the players, but also between the staff and the players.
“Our communication is not bad, but it could be better. It’s not bad at all. I mean, I feel like it definitely could be better, especially against teams like this, who move a lot, who get a lot of off-ball actions.”
“We’re going to have to communicate more. But it could be better for sure. I’m not going to sit here and say we don’t talk to each other at all. But we definitely can be communicating a little bit more and also utilizing the bench a little bit more, too. You know, I just think I just we can step it up a notch.”
While the game went into overtime, three players ended up playing over 40 minutes for the Rockets tonight: Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, and Jabari Smith Jr.
The 37-year-old forward finished the game with 23 points, six rebounds, three assists, four steals, and one block. He shot 8-16 from the floor (50.0 FG%) and 3-5 from beyond the arc (60.0 3P%) in 41 minutes of action.
Durant seemingly feels that the coaching staff could have used players like Clint Capela and Josh Okogie more, or even other players who did not play despite being available, like Jeff Green and Dorian Finney-Smith (who reportedly has a lingering ankle issue but was still available).
This is a gap in the communication between the players and the coaching staff, who should be in conversation about such team strategies. Therefore, the Rockets did not just play down to their competition tonight, but they brought a big issue to light down the stretch of the season.
The Rockets fell to 38-23 following tonight’s loss and still look set to make the playoffs this year. With 21 games left in the regular season, they have a little over three months to fill these gaps in their communication before they face the hammer of the NBA playoffs and become vulnerable to elimination.
