HOUSTON — By the time fans could settled into their seats at Toyota Center on Wednesday, the Rockets were already down 18 points to the Los Angeles Clippers. The mood had that “here we go again” feeling of last season, when the Rockets found themselves down early and could never recover.
Yet, this group of players does not have the same demeanor as last year’s team that finished at the bottom of the Western Conference. Despite a 1-8 start, this is a scrappy group of young, talented players gaining confidence every time they step on the court.
Clippers veteran Paul George made a tough shot to beat the Rockets on Monday in a game Houston trailed for much of it before fighting back to take a late lead. With that in mind, Los Angeles knew Houston would not roll over on Wednesday. The Rockets used a 35-17 run to get themselves back into the game.
The fans watching their team play at home for only the third time in the first nine games of the 2022-23 regular season helped fuel the Rockets during the comeback by matching the same energy they saw from that youthful group.
Even though Houston put up a solid effort in the second half and took a brief lead in the third quarter, too much experience and too many turnovers led to the 109-101 loss to the Clippers.
“We are still young and still growing,” said Rockets guard Jalen Green after the 109-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. “It is all experience.” #LightTheFuse #Sarge pic.twitter.com/mWSyvCX0vx
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) November 3, 2022
“It’s been frustrating, but a learning lesson at the end of the day,” said second-year Rockets guard Jalen Green. “We just have to play as a team, stick together. Down the stretch, we got to execute plays. Things like that. We just don’t have that right now.”
Green, who finished the game with 22 points, including 14 in the third quarter, knows that everything they have been going through in the first nine games of the season will only help them get stronger.
“It’s experience,” Green said postgame from the Rockets’ locker room. “We are going up against the best teams in our first couple of games with a lot of rookies and second-year players. We are still young and still growing. It is all experience.”
Green shot 9-of-17 from the field (52.9%) and 3-of-8 on 3-pointers (37.5%), snapping a recent slump in which he had shot 25.7% overall and 22.6% on 3-pointers over Houston’s recent 0-4 road trip.
With the home-and-home series with the Clippers in the books, the Rockets head back on the road for another four-game road trip beginning Saturday in Minnesota (4-4). Tipoff from Target Center is set for 7 p.m. Central.
