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Exhale.
The Houston Rockets are all smiles on their way home to Texas after a 103-102 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
Although they played without Christian Wood (sprained ankle) and John Wall (sore knee), the Rockets built a substantial lead against the Pistons, leading up to 20 points in the second quarter.
The Rockets lead in the balloon thanks to the strong energy of the Rockets reserves. Sterling Brown, David Nwaba and Ben McLemore became the Rockets’ first line to score in double digits off the bench this season and their lead grew as they entered the game. When Nwaba and McLemore came in with 5:48 in the first quarter, the team took a seven-point lead. At the end of the first quarter, the lead was 13.
The positives from the bench were also joined by veterans Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker, who both had strong offensive nights. Gordon led all the Rockets with 20 and was the primary ball handler for the Rockets tonight. Meanwhile, after numerous offensive issues and leaving Wednesday’s game with an abdominal discomfort, Tucker tied a season record with 15 points on a 5-8 shot.
The Pistons were able to return to the game after a slow start with an accurate three-point shot and capitalizing on the Rockets’ energy deflation, which began once the Rockets got comfortable at 20. The Pistons shot 15-32, good for 46.9%, over the three-point line.
Wayne Ellington was Detroit’s most effective scorer, scoring 18 points on 6-10 shooting from depth. Jerami Grant got off to a bad start, but found his three balls late in the game, shooting 3-6 of three.
The Pistons finally knocked down the Rockets and took a four-point lead before the fourth quarter.
The Rockets let the Pistons get back into the game with disjointed offensive efforts from Victor Oladipo and DeMarcus Cousins. Oladipo struggled to generate and create without Christian Wood on the ground and shot just 4-16 from the field for 13 points. Cousins, who started for the injured Wood, was strong on the boards but scored just five points on a 2-16 shot.
However, the second unit of the Rockets managed to get the lead back.
An 18-6 inning gave the Rockets the lead for good, with all but two points from Brown, Nwaba and McLemore.
The Pistons were able to stay despite four consecutive missed free throws in the stretch.
Blake Griffin nailed a three from the top of the key to cut the lead to one. Then an Eric Gordon Rockets failure put the ball back into Detroit’s hands with 3.8 seconds left.
Then a practice from Grant was a second too short as the ball stayed in his hands right after the clock ran out and the Rockets walked away with a win.
It’s hard to say whether or not the Rockets deserved to win this game. If you take the effort in the first trimester and the bench in the fourth trimester, that answer is yes. But if you look at the whole game, the answer is no. It’s just the luck of the Rockets to have faced the worst team in the league, which had multiple chances to sideline the Rockets and failed to do so.
Despite a frustrating game, the Rockets finished in the lead. With so few wins ahead for the team as of late, you’ll take what you can get.
The Rockets will be back on the court tomorrow night against the Dallas mavericks on the road. The tipoff is at 8 p.m. CT.
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