Rockets see Improvement from 3-Point Range but Free Throw Shooting Still an Issue

The Houston Rockets have been going through a tough stretch of games since the calendar turned to December. The Rockets were 13-4 heading into December, but also had one of the easiest schedules in the NBA in the first two months of the season. The Rockets had played the fewest games and had no back-to-backs up to that point in the season.

The Rockets' struggles in December were primarily because of their shooting. After starting the season as the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA, the Rockets saw their shooting slowly decline, even though they remained in the top five. Another area that saw an even steeper decline was their free-throw shooting.

Just like there 3-point shooting there free throw shooting dropped slightly. The Rockets were middle of the pack to start the season from the charity stripe which may not seem great but it was a signficant improvment over last season where they finished last in the NBA. December was just the start of the Rockets shooting struggles as January would prove to be even more of a struggle.

The Rockets See Improvement From 3-Point Range in Win, but Free Throw Shooting Is Still an Issue

The Houston Rockets had struggled to win games in January as coming into Friday night's game the Rockets were 3-5 in the first eight games of the month. The Rockets were coming off another poor shooting performance as they loss by 20 points to the defending champions and had their worse shooting game of the season.

It seemed the Rockets were heading down the same road as Thursday as they started the game again struggling from the arc and found themselves in another back-and-forth game this time with the Minnesota Timberwolves who were playing without their superstar Anthony Edwards.

The Rockets trailed by a point going into the fourth quarter but pulled out the win late with help from Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant, who scored 39 points, a season high. The Rockets also shot .429 from the field, which was their best percentage since a December 27th win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, it was the Rockets' first time in January that they shot over 30 percent from 3-point range.

Unfortunately, free-throw shooting was still a significant problem even in the win. The Rockets are ranked 29th in free-throw shooting in January, with only their opponent on Friday, the Timberwolves, shooting a lower percentage. Both teams continued their poor shooting from the line, combining to miss 29 free throws.

The Rockets have had six of their nine games in which they have missed at least six free throws, including the 14 they missed Friday night. The Rockets know that eventually foul-free shooting from the free throw line will catch up to them, especially in close games, and hope they can improve from the charity stripe, just as they did from the 3-point line. They have their next opportunity on Sunday when they host the New Orleans Pelicans.