Rockets Defense SHUTS DOWN Knicks As Amen Thompson CLAMPS Jalen Brunson + Houston Offense THRIVING
Rockets Defense SHUTS DOWN Knicks As Amen Thompson CLAMPS Jalen Brunson + Houston Offense THRIVING
Houston Rockets suffocate the New York Knicks with elite defense—have they rediscovered their edge just in time for the playoffs?
Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) breaks down Houston’s 111-94 dominant victory, spotlighting Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr.’s lockdown performances on Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Ball movement hits a season-high as the Rockets tally 35 assists, with Kevin Durant leading the scoring charge and Reed Sheppard providing a major spark off the bench. Key insights include Ime Udoka’s tactical lineup shifts, the resurgence of Alperen Sengun’s facilitating role, and Houston’s ability to answer every Knicks run. The conversation examines whether the Rockets’ re-energized defense and balanced offense can propel them deep into the playoffs.
Is Houston ready to make a statement in the postseason? Don’t miss this energizing analysis of the Rockets’ path to playoff relevancy.
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#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #KevinDurant #AlperenSengun #AmenThompson #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #ReedSheppard #FredVanVleet #DorianFinneySmith #StevenAdams #AaronHoliday #JaeSeanTate #JeffGreen #ClintCapela #JoshOkogie
39 Comments
KD clamped Brunson also. One of those Brunson turnovers was from KD
Listening to Locked 🔒 on Rockets after a win is so refreshing. 🏆
Isn't it curious that the offense is functioning suddenly, and Udoka started to talk good about the players.
The team take the control from the coach and Udoka feels that he is about to be fired.
When our players can shoot 3 ball with such efficiency yes we can win vs anyone.
Awesome team effort was on display last night…. Sengun was indeed a "prime example" of his unselfish playstyle, 29 min and maybe career-low shot attempts 4-5 FG, 10 assists. Despite coming off a historic 36-point, zero-turnover masterclass just two nights prior, Sengun focused on facilitating the offense against New York. This dude improving bigtime and making rest of team looks great as well.
i think this match show how big the importance of team meeting effect Jackson 🙂 also, how could we be so smooth first 8 minute of match, would it be senhub offense?
Here we go again! Rockets get hot at the end of the season only to get beat in the first round of playoffs! Can we just make it to the second round?
Sorry, i started to watch late, now i saw you already mention that 😊
The team and Alpi played brilliantly in the first quarter, opening up a 17-point lead. Just as that was happening, with 4 minutes left in the first quarter, Udoka took Alpi off the court. He clearly did it to disrupt his rhythm. He spent that time with KD alongside Sheppard, who was raining down three-pointers. Then, at the start of the second quarter, he took KD off and brought Alpi on, but he pulled another trick: he pulled Amen and Eason off Alpi and brought in Tate and Holliday. For those who don't know, these guys can't even play in China. Then the lead narrowed, and Udoka repeated this tactic once more in the match. It was as if he was trying to show how the team regressed when Alperen plays without KD. During the first time he did this, in a situation where a foul was called on Alperen (it was his second foul), the coach ignored Alpi's insistence on challenging it, and it was later seen on replay that Alpi had been elbowed in that position and could have received an offensive and even flagrant foul. Then, at the end of the game, Alpi got into foul trouble and finished the game with 5 fouls, you can imagine how these moments can change the whole momentum and defensive effeciency in the latter stages of the game. Now, if you're curious why I'm saying all this, it's because some of you might be wondering why Alpi didn't score more than 30 points in that game, so I wanted to explain the background. If he had scored over 30 points against a top-tier team like New York, it would have become clear that the problem stemmed from the coach. Udoka manipulated the game to prevent this from happening. This is one of the reasons why Alperen is so successful. He didn't give up in the face of negativity and the games being played against him. He literally told his teammates in the team meeting that they shouldn't be demoralized by the coach's interventions and that they need to focus on the game, and the effect of this was seen in the match. Alpi knows how to deal with hard situations from the beginning of his career so his mental leadership is worthy as we have seen.
So you guys can see Sengun isnt a bad defensive player after all right? Clearly he was playing through something that was limiting his mobility in defense. If you still think Sengun cant defend then I will refer you to the European championship last summer and see how he single handedly took Turkey to the finals not just playing great offense but also defending at a very high level. And also want to remind you they crushed Jokic’s Serbia TWICE!!
How are the vibes with kd ? Seems like the vibes are high when we winning huh
i don’t know if i’d consider 111 points rolling but yeah they played well defensively
I’d say Kd was flying everywhere idk how he wouldn’t be mvp of game. Literally guarded everyone and he set tone scoring 10 straight early.
Udoka dad cat bouncing as the sp500 right know i hope gm doesnt blunder
What I would give to have been a fly on the wall in Memphis for that team meeting. Even KD was more engaged with his teammates and the bench looked more lively than it has in months
Any calendar for the return of FVV ? Next season ?
I think KD was the MVP. Great on offense and he actually did a great job on ball and help defense. +28 for the game – 27/6-rebs 8-assists/2-blocks
Only one stat matters: only 10 turnovers. When the Rockets don't beat themselves, they can beat anybody.
I want the Lakers in the first round
I hope they keep it up and we can pass the first round. The rest is a dream anyway.
laughin at the fact that a 10 TO game is a good game for us lol
4:48 Bro kd defense this game really elevated everybody else in my opinion Jabari hit some good shots but mvp of the game is crazy I don’t even think he had a better game then tari but kd and amen fasho mvp of this game
3:39 say it to the Bari haters at clutchfans.
KD looked tired of losing to good teams. He was flying all over the place here in this game
Reed is the big X factor, beautiful jump shot in one motion, Rockets can use another good shooter to go deep in playoff, Tari was ok last night but nothing compares to Reed
without Reed Rockets bench sucks only 2 points , Reed put in 20
we didn't make dumb/lazy TO mistakes! biggest win.
The best version of this team is when reed comes off the bench when he get pressed up top, he kept separate from the defender. I watched it all night.
Who actually called the team meeting?
I like this show but most the time the show drags too long keeping repeating over and over same old, over analyzed alot of unimportant things,
Alpi first looks if everybody is shooting like snipers, then he is more than happy to assist them. Alpi takes the job in his hands when other players are not delivering at a good level.
Teams are triple teaming KD. It’s Amen Jabari and Sengun time to shine .
Tari eason Is the xfactor
It is nice to see KD as a teammate
It seemed like Ime goes into a mode where he’s trying to prove a point, to either the players or the GM. Just the way he looks after every timeout or bad run an I told you so face.
This is the Rockets I like to see… Great team work, concentration, unselfish moves, good defence. The roles were clear. Also the hands were tuned and with some luck many 3-pointers… This Rockets still have chance at Play-offs…
They kept the Knick at 29% from the 3 point line. Usually the opponents score more than their season average against the Rockets. This shows how well they defended the perimeter. They were flying around. I think it was last season I remember them defending like this 🙂 This also helped Sengun defensively. He didn't have to defend the guards coming from the screens.
They are so much better running through alpi and using motion. Rather than running through KD and isoing.
They still NEED an athletic combo guard to complement the real core of Alpi, amen, jabari, and reed. Because those are the guys who play great in modern motion. But they really do need an athletic guard.
Kingston Flemings is the only guy in this draft that has what they need from that position. And while he might be expensive, every other appropriate option is even more expensive or impossible to get. Or can't do what they actually need. Leek is not going to be able to do it!
Rested KD is lethal. Hope they can keep his minutes under 30 in coming matches.