“H” up… A-Town down, but barely.
The Houston Rockets came into Tuesday’s game winners of nine of their last ten games and the Atlanta Hawks came in with an 8-3 record in the month of March. So, regardless of the Hawks 35-36 record a good hard-fought game was to be expected. It looked early like the Rockets might roll with a 9-2 run. However, the Hawks proceeded to score 14 straight points. The Rockets started the game 1-of-8 from three, then after a timeout the Rockets scored an 11-5 run of their own and eventually took a 30-23 lead into the second quarter. Jalen Green got things going offensively with 10 points in the quarter.
The Rockets started the second quarter with a 15-3 run pushing the lead to 45-26 and forcing the Hawks to take a timeout. The Hawks would respond with a mini run of their own but the double big lineup, and Jalen Green’s offense kept the Hawks at arm’s length until the ball started going on the basket for a few more guys and the Rockets started to flex their muscle again. Despite only shooting 28 percent from the three-point line in the first half, the Rockets did out rebound the Hawks by double digits including 11 offensive rebounds, outscored them in in the paint 34-24 and made all of their six free-throws. All that was enough to take a 65-48 lead into halftime. Jalen Green had 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting at the half. Trae Young, who was quiet most of the half, got things going late in the second quarter and ended the first half with 13 points.
In the third quarter the Rockets separated a little more form the Hawks. They only shot 42 percent from the field, but they held the Hawks to 35 percent shooting and the Rockets went 15-16 from the free-throw line. Jalen had a great quarter shooting 4-of 5 from the field, scoring 10 in the quarter. Alperen Sengun, Tari Eason, Dillon Brooks and Jabari Smith Jr. all hit double figures before the end of the third quarter and it looked like the Rockets were going to coast to their 47th win of the season as they went into the fourth quarter with a 20-point lead, 94-74.
Welp! In the fourth quarter the Hawks went on a 20-4 run and cut the Rockets lead to four with Trae Young on the bench. Before the midway point of the quarter the Rockets were suddenly in a game at 100-96. From that moment Jalen Green and Jabari Smith went active and pushed the lead back to double digits with five minutes in the quarter. The Hawks would not go away quietly, getting their deficit down to three points, with less than 20 seconds left in the game, but the Rockets were able to stiff arm the comeback and pick up that 47th victory 121-114.
Jalen Green led the way with 32 points and 11 rebounds. The Rockets had six players in double-figures including Jabari Smith Jr. who chipped in with 17 points off the bench. The Rockets won in large part thanks to their shooting 26-of-29 from the free-throw line. The Rockets defense shut down a hot Hawks team for three quarters and were able to withstand the Hawks putting up a 40-spot in the fourth quarter to get the win.
The Rockets control their own destiny with only nine games remaining in the season. They hit the road for a three-game road trip starting in Utah on Thursday. Tuesday’s win places the Rockets a full two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets to keep them in second place in the Western Conference. The Rockets have guaranteed themselves at minimum a play-in spot in the West, but they obviously want to stack as many wins as possible to clinch that coveted first playoff appearance since 2020. Keep cheering the home team on and catch the games on Space City Home Network or listen on Sports Talk 790.