Rockets HANDLE Clippers As Kevin Durant & Alperen Sengun LEAD Houston’s 2nd Half SURGE
Rockets HANDLE Clippers As Kevin Durant & Alperen Sengun LEAD Houston’s 2nd Half SURGE
Kevin Durant powers the Houston Rockets past the Los Angeles Clippers with a 26-point performance, marking his 1,000th career 20-point game. Can Houston’s balanced offense and lockdown third-quarter defense spark a post-All-Star surge?
Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) breaks down the Rockets’ 102-95 victory, spotlighting Durant’s clutch scoring, Alperen Şengün’s efficient interior presence, and Reed Shepard’s sharpshooting off the bench. Key insights include the Rockets’ improved ball security, strategic use of Amen Thompson in the dunker spot, and how Ime Udoka’s lineup decisions are shaping the team’s identity. Plus, hear thoughts on Fred VanVleet’s presence in the broadcast booth and Şengün’s All-Star selection.
Explore what this win means for Houston’s playoff outlook, the ongoing evolution of their offensive sets, and why the 40-20 mark remains within reach. Don’t miss this essential analysis of the Rockets’ path toward Western Conference contention.
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#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #KevinDurant #AlperenSengun #AmenThompson #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #ReedSheppard #FredVanVleet #DorianFinneySmith #StevenAdams #AaronHoliday #JaeSeanTate #JeffGreen #ClintCapela #JoshOkogie
6 Comments
Look for the Clippers, to try to rebound back for a win.
Amen, Sheppard, and Sengun are all doing admirable “PG by committee” work, but none of them are a true control-the-game guard yet, Amen is awesome in transition and defense, but half-court orchestration and shooting still cap him.
Sengun’s game is built around passing and post play, functioning almost as a point center. He is doing a hell of a good job despite couple of bad games. Big time KD struggles last night but the rest of the team carried the offense.
For those that believe we should have drafted Castle instead of Reed, this is a side-by-side comparison of their stats (linear scaling) as if both played 36 minutes a night:
(Common comparison) Per 36 minutes
Player per 36 PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV FGA 3PA FTA
Sheppard 18.4 3.8 4.4 2.0 0.9 1.9 16.0 9.0 1.6
Castle 19.8 6.0 8.3 1.5 0.4 4.0 14.5 4.4 7.0
** Castle with 4 TOs per game, Reed with 1.9
Castle’s advantage is primary creation (assist volume) + getting to the line; Sheppard’s is 3-point volume/efficiency and higher steals/blocks per minute. (All “same minutes” numbers assume production scales linearly with minutes.). Many tout Castle's defense, but in fact, Reed is superior in that area if you look at the stats.
I can't quite put my finger on it but I saw something different about Sheppard in this one – he could start & finish.
I just learned that Sengun is now in top 10 centers of all time with the most triple dubbels.
Hope we win today's game as well iirc we have never won both matches in back to backs vs the same team this season so far. Looks like we can't blow any team out this season without a real guard.