The Rockets managed to defeat the Jazz 125-105 despite committing a season-high 26 turnovers in the blowout win. After the game, their head coach, Ime Udoka, spoke to the media and addressed what led to this strange outcome tonight.
“That was just carelessness, simply. It wasn’t by any pressure, any traps, any blitzes. We had nine in the first quarter, of which five were in the first seven possessions. You’re not going to beat a real team, a better team, with that high number,” said Udoka candidly.
“Obviously, we’re coming off nine turnovers in the fourth quarter against New York that came back to bite us. I think we had 11 at halftime. That was the point of emphasis; we watched film, then we came out and had six in the third and eight more in the fourth quarter. Not good enough.”
Amen Thompson had the most turnovers tonight (six), followed by Jabari Smith Jr. and Kevin Durant (four each). This just highlights the Rockets’ lack of experience at the point guard role.
While Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard are building the necessary experience to maybe not let this happen in the future, such games are really ending up being costly for the Rockets in terms of capitalizing on Kevin Durant’s championship window.
Considering that the Jazz are clearly in a tanking mode, beating a team that wants to lose doesn’t feel like much of an achievement. But if this were a contending team, like the Spurs or the Thunder, being sloppy with the ball like they were tonight would definitely not result in a win.
Even in their last game (against the Knicks), the Rockets threw away an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter due to the same nine turnovers that Udoka mentioned above.
Renowned voices like Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins are criticizing the Rockets on live television. Perkins even said they look like a team that would exit in the first round of the playoffs for playing “selfish” basketball. Such comments should light a fire under Durant and the rest of the roster.
Kevin Durant Highlights Rockets’ Biggest Challenge Beyond Turnovers
Kevin Durant had the playmaking responsibilities today and led the team by notching his own season-high in assists (12). The Rockets’ veteran superstar finished the game with 18 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, one steal, and one block while shooting 7-13 from the field (53.8 FG%) and 4-6 from beyond the arc (66.6 3P%).
Following the game, he also addressed the media and gave his opinions on the team’s recent struggles with turnovers. He seems to believe that the problem is not a skill issue but an attitude one in terms of the approach towards the second and fourth quarters of the games.
“26 turnovers were way too much, but I liked the sense of urgency to move the ball and knock down shots tonight,” said Durant in reference to the turnovers in his opening remarks.
“I still think our focus level could have been better. Especially after the first quarter, we were up 38-22, and they cut the lead to five too quickly for my liking, and for all our liking. Then we turnt it up a bit,” Durant further elaborated.
“So we just got to be better at the start of the second and fourth quarters, specifically when we’re up double digits, then we can’t relax too hard and think the game is in our hands. We’ve got to go dominate and take it.”
The Rockets have improved to 35-21 and are the third seed in the West currently. They host the Kings on Wednesday (February 25) at the Toyota Center. With 26 games left in the regular season, the Rockets have very limited time to correct their course before the playoffs knock on their door.
