Houston Rockets' Issues Glaring in Postseason

Having played four games in their first round series, the Houston Rockets are now down what is likely an insurmountable 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors.

Monday night’s Game 4 featured much of the same as Houston’s other two losses: bad offense. Houston finally broke 100 for the second time in four games — doing so the first time in its only win — still scoring a fairly measly 106 points. The team has made its money on the defensive end of the court this season, but were unable to stop Jimmy Butler in the second half, who helped the Warriors coast to a 3-point win.

Regardless, offense has been disappointing for the Rockets so far in the first round. They scored just 85 points in Game 1 and 93 points in Game 3, averaging 98 per game so far. Their sole win against Golden State came in a miraculous 38-point performance from Jalen Green.

The offense as a whole has been bad, and the shooting even worse. But the team’s primary problem is a lack of true No. 1 scorer.

Even with Houston’s abysmal offensive punch, they’ve played all three losses closely, only letting off the gas in the final minutes. Their defense, headlined by Amen Thompson, Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, has been good enough to keep them in competition consistently.

But the team’s lack of superstar scorer has been visible, especially across from the ever-hypnotic Stephen Curry. VanVleet had it going in Game 4, but is at his best as a secondary creator. Alperen Sengun was a first-time All-Star and has had his fair share of moments, but his game isn’t stylistically built for the postseason. And Green has had a nearly-opinion-changing stretch of rough play.

It’s clear in the Rockets’ defense that they’re close to being a contender. But this offseason could bring much-needed offensive changes.