Tari Eason Gets Immense Boost of Support From Rockets' Teammate

After the Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Pelicans on March 29, a special moment occurred in the Rockets locker room.

Houston got a much needed win in New Orleans that marked consecutive wins after a tough stretch of losses earlier in that road trip. It also marked the beginning of Rockets forward Tari Eason getting out of his massive slump.

This was not any kind of small bad stretch that Eason had been going through. It was over a month and a half. Eason's disastrous shooting streak had gotten national attention. It was shocking, simply because Eason had turned into an elite 3-point shooting wing this season for the Rockets. He had a stretch of 11 out of 13 games without double digit scores.

Eason averaged eight points per game in March and shot just 20% from three and 35% from the field. At one point in the season, his 3-point shooting was well over 40% overall, including 58% from the corner.

The slump now seems to be behind Eason at the moment. He broke out for 16 points in a win against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 27. His 3-point shooting finally came to life against the Pelicans in a 15-point effort. Eason knocked down three out of five attempts from beyond the arc.

Rockets center Alperen Sengun came right to Eason's side for support after this encouraging result.

Teammates Support

"He was just in his head too much."
--Alperen Sengun on Tari Eason as they met with the media after the #Rockets 134-102 win over NOP

Tari: 15 PTS I 8 REB I 6-12 FG I 3-5 3PT
Alpi: 36 PTS I 13 REB I 7 AST I 3 STL I 3BLK@HoustonRockets I #AllFire pic.twitter.com/oeUlAvpt8s
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) March 30, 2026

"Tari has been amazing for us. Happy to have him back because he's really important for us," Sengun said with a chuckle and an arm around Eason postgame. "We've been talking to him about being one of the key guys for the team, and he's now understanding that too. He goes out and does what he does and he's been killing it."

The Rockets had a team meeting and they addressed to Eason specifically that they needed him. It was a positive discussion with affirmations and recognition of how important he is.

"I appreciate everybody. I appreciate Alpi during this stretch. He's sent me stuff, he's spoke confidence into me. A lot of these guys have really tried to keep my head up," Eason said.

He mentioned with a laugh how everyone goes through slumps, but this is the first one he's had to go through so far in his four-year NBA career.

Eason was 50 percent (6/12) from the field along with eight rebounds against the Pelicans. He followed that up with a 17-point outburst on national TV against a playoff team in the New York Knicks. Eason was 6/10 from the field and was also 3/6 from downtown. He also added eight rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals.

Eason most recently scored 16 points against the Utah Jazz this past Friday on 7/10 shooting while knocking down a couple threes again.

"He's one of the guys that bring energy to the team. That's what he's been doing for the last four years. Right now, he's bringing the juice, the defense," Sengun said.

Sengun also mentioned how Eason was solely focused on his 3-point shooting after his incredibly hot start, that he needed to be reminded of the other areas he mightily impacts the game. Looks like the strategy clearly worked.