The Houston Rockets couldn’t have picked a worse time to enter into a drought. They have now lost four of their last six and have dropped to the sixth seed a game and a half behind the Timberwolves. On Wednesday night, the Rockets suffered the worst overtime collapse in NBA history.
Kevin Durant hit a free throw with 9 seconds left to tie the game 95-95, and Alperen Sengun completed a block on Julius Randle with 0.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
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After starting overtime on a 13-0 run which looked like an easy victory for Houston, the team absolutely crumbled as the Timberwolves went on a 15-0 run completed by a Julius Randle bucket with 8.8 seconds erased the deficit and pulled off a win 110-108- all this with the Timberwolves missing star player, Anthony Edwards who is still out for a few weeks nursing a knee injury with a potential return Saturday against the Pistons.
Durant and Sengun both had a matching stat line of 30 points each, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Timberwolves hot run in overtime. The Rockets continue to lack a third scorer to complete their big three that they can count on in crunch time.
Reed Sheppard struggled going 3-for-13 from the field and 2-for-10 from the three point line. Amen Thompson was one rebound short of a triple-double, posting a stat line of 11-9-10, but it seems the biggest issue is lacking a reliable third scorer that can take some weight off of both Durant and Sengun.
With the playoffs approaching quickly, it seems coach Ime Udoka needs to make some changes, and fast, or the Rockets will surely see a quick exit come playoff time.