Ime Udoka didn\u2019t try to dress it up after Wednesday night. He called the Rockets\u2019 loss to San Antonio \u201ca tale of two halves,\u201d and that phrasing has quietly followed Houston through the rest of the week, because it hasn\u2019t just been one game.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a pattern.<\/p>\n
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Against the Spurs, Houston opened with what might\u2019ve been their cleanest 12 minutes of basketball all season. 36 points. 60-percent shooting<\/a>. Four made threes. 11 assists on 15 made field goals. Kevin Durant and Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn dictated everything, the ball never stuck, and the Spurs were chasing actions instead of anticipating them.<\/p>\n Then the game shifted.<\/p>\n San Antonio pushed pace in the second quarter, speeding Houston up defensively. The discomfort was palpable. The Rockets still scored, but the margin disappeared. After halftime, it collapsed entirely.<\/p>\n Houston managed just 37 points in the second half, shot under 30-percent<\/a> after the break, and produced only one made three in the final two quarters. What began as organized offense turned into survival possessions, and the Spurs walked out with a 111-99 win.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Twenty-four hours later in Atlanta, the halves flipped.<\/p>\n The Rockets looked flat early against the Hawks, opening the game 0-for-6 and shooting under 40-percent<\/a> through the first two quarters. The offense lagged, the pace felt heavy, and Houston leaned on defense just to stay afloat. At halftime, the Rockets led by one despite shooting just 38.3 percent- a game that had no business being theirs.<\/p>\n But this time, the adjustment stuck.<\/p>\n