Rockets Can't Afford To Keep Dropping Games Against Weaker Opponents

As soon as the Houston Rockets picked up what may have been their biggest win of the season, they followed with with a contender for one of the season's worst losses. The Sacramento Kings turned the game around in the second half, pushing the Rockets to overtime and making enough clutch baskets to steal a victory.

There are little excuses for Houston dropping a game to a team struggling as much as the Kings have been this season, but the Rockets can't afford to have letdowns of this nature happen often this season.

The loss dropped the Rockets down to the sixth seed, the final postseason position before the play in seeds.

While the Rockets have a relatively strong lead in front of the seventh-ranked Phoenix Suns, they must continue to stack wins to earn a chance at having home court in at least the first round of the postseason. Dropping down into the play-in bracket should be considered an unacceptable outcome if the team stays relatively healthy.

To have a chance at jumping up some spots in the standings, the Rockets must tighten their late-game execution. They must also determine the order of priority in the offense during those moments to fall back on during the critical periods late in the game.

The issue against the Kings was Houston's inability to get stops on defense or rebound when they caused a miss.

Russell Westbrook kept the game alive with a few hustle plays in the clutch, outworking the Rockets with increased energy at the end of the game.

Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, and Kevin Durant did not bring the required energy to continue Houston's scoring into the end of regulation and overtime. Despite having the lead for much of the game, the Rockets were outplayed during the moments that mattered most.

This isn't new for the Rockets, a team that had lost to the Utah Jazz a few weeks prior to this new low for the team. They've shown early there's potential for letdown games based on some inability to maintain their form in certain areas they've proven as a major factor for their performance.

Rebounding and defense have been the team's identity since the arrival of Head Coach Ime Udoka, but the effort in those elements can wane in the final moments of games as teams have increased focus on their own offense.

The Rockets must share the same level of focus moving forward against contenders and potential lottery teams. Inexplicable losses can't continue if the Rockets want to establish themselves as legitimate contenders.