The ugly first quarter of the 2022-23 season for the Houston Rockets arguably hit a low point in Wednesday’s 120-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Houston’s second straight double-digit defeat in Denver wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated, as Stephen Silas’s squad trailed 44-24 after the first 12 minutes and by as many as 33 late in the second quarter. Two nights after being diced by Nikola Jokić in a blowout loss, the Rockets came out listless Wednesday night.
“I haven’t been disappointed with our readiness … pretty much all season,” Silas told the media in Denver postgame. “Against teams like this, you can't just ease into these games. You've got to come in with a defensive mindset, a hard-play mindset, a together mindset. I was disappointed with how we began the game.
“If you start like that, it’s hard to win.”
— ATTSportsNetSW Twitter
Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr. also referenced the Rockets’ lack of “readiness” postgame. Porter led the Rockets with 23 points and five assists on Wednesday, serving as a lone offensive bright spot as Houston limped its way to a 12-41 finish from beyond the arc. Porter is now up to 19 points per game this season as he posts career-highs across most counting stats, though like most of his young teammates, his efficiency leaves a lot to be desired. Neither Porter nor Jalen Green are shooting above 42.5 percent from the field this season, and both are averaging more than three turnovers per game .
Houston’s road doesn’t get any easier in the immediate future following Wednesday’s shellacking in Denver. They face the Western-Conference-leading Suns on Friday night before a trip to see the defending NBA champs of Golden State on Saturday. Silas and Co. will return to friendly confines on Monday night, when James Harden and the 76ers come to the Toyota Center.
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