INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Among the NBA intelligentsia (or what passes for it), the Houston Rockets have become a League Pass favorite. They are athletic, deep, and play with the grit and intensity their coach Ime Udoka showed in a seven-year NBA career, which made him a favorite of the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich.
Houston swarms opponents defensively then uses the created turnovers and awkward missed shots to get out and run — where they have some highlight-reel finishers.
Houston’s days as an indie favorite playing small clubs are about to end.
Wednesday night, the Rockets step onto a much bigger stage: An NBA Cup quarterfinal game against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors (9:30 ET on TNT). It’s a chance for the world to see what has made Houston a 16-8 No. 3 seed in the West with the second-best defense in the league.
“Ime has definitely come in and put his stamp on the team,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of the Rockets before his team lost to them Sunday night. “Tough nose team that’s going to play defense and compete every single night. And he got the guys that he wants there, he did the same thing in Boston. So they have a great defensive-minded team and they play hard, compete every single night.”
When that swarming Rockets defense forces turnovers and rushed shots, it allows them to get out and run with their athletes — and that’s when they pull away and win games. It was evident Sunday against the Clippers when a 10-2 run at the end of the first half gave the Rockets a comfortable double-digit lead at the half that they never relinquished.
Sunday night, that defense started with Amen Thompson, who Udoka praised for the job he did on Norman Powell (the Clippers’ leading scorer with James Harden out). Powell was held in check shooting 5-of-18 for the night, 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.
That’s not all Thompson had to step up and do. With Fred VanVleet out Sunday due to a knee contusion (his status for Wednesday is not official, but expect him to play), Thompson was thrust into more of a shot-creator/point guard role. He is growing into that over rookie season and the start of this one, and that positional versatility is something echoed throughout the Rockets roster.
“He’s gonna do what he does regardless,” Udoka said of Amen Thompson. “Come off the bench or starting, at times he’s run the point, at times he has the center on him and he’s setting screen.”
Houston’s breakout young star is Alperen Sengun.
“That’s my twin,” Thompson said of Sengun.
Sengun has played like an All-Star this season, serving in kind of a mini-Jokic way as the hub of the Rockets’ half court offense. He is averaging 18.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists a night.
“Very versatile: Can score on the block, can make a 3, put the ball on the floor, create off the dribble, gets to a free throw line, and so he’s tough challenge,” Lue said of Sengun.
“Just his presence, his gravity,” Thompson said of why Sengun is key to their offense. “He brings two people on him every time, and I love that because I get to just cut off him and get easy points, and we got that connection that we see that.”
It’s a lot to ask of the 22-year-old from Turkey, and Sengun has been more inconsistent than Udoka likes this season, he’s had some slow starts to games recently. That’s also to be an expected part of his growth.
“My thing is to concentrate on the things you can control, which is looking to score and not looking to get fouled as much, playing through contact and not looking for a call or letting missed shots affect you on the other end,” Udoka said of Sengun. “[The Clippers] went after him tonight anytime he had it in the post, and he found guys. That was the reason we had those wide-open looks. So some nights it’s a scoring thing, some nights gonna be facilitating, and he has to be able to do both. But my biggest thing with him is, I say, ‘Don’t get the European out of your game and play through stuff. Stop crying.'”
It may not always be consistent on offense, but the chemistry of this young core is improving — and about to get a spotlight on it thanks to the NBA Cup.
“I think the chemistry is great,” Jalen Green said. “I mean, we’ve been building for two years now, same team. Not a lot of teams get to be with each other for that long. I mean, we all look at each other as brothers, we communicate, we get on each other. And I think that that shows on the court.”
VanVleet was out Sunday night in Los Angeles and it showed — by early in the third quarter the Rockets had 15 turnovers and at points struggled to settle into their offense.
“He’s such a calming influence for the team, that kind of gets us into what we need to a lot,” Udoka said of VanVleet.
That influence will be needed Wednesday against the Warriors when VanVleet will lead the Rockets against a team with the fourth-best defense in the league. On offense, the Warriors have Stephen Curry.
Dillon Brooks — every other fan base’s favorite villain — is the other veteran Houston brought in back in 2023, asking him to be physical and set a defensive one. He likely draws the Curry defensive assignment at points.
While those veterans have been key cogs on the court this season in Houston, they were brought in because of leadership — to show a young team how to be professional and blossom in the NBA. They have done that.
“It’s been positive” Udoka said on the presence of veterans to lead a young roster. “I’ve said it multiple times about Fred [VanVleet], Dillon [Brooks], Jeff Green, Aaron [Holiday], and Jae’Sean [Tate] has been here. But the guys that we added last year and now Steven [Adams] this year have had a positive impact on all of our young guys. So, not just what they do on the court, but on a day-to- day basis. Professionalism off the charts shows them what you have to do to win in the NBA on a nightly basis.”
The Rockets have been winning on a nightly basis this season (including against the Clippers on Sunday). Now, however, they have to learn to do it under the bright lights of a pressure-filled, nationally televised NBA Cup game against a team that beat them last week in a grinding defensive battle (99-93). It’s a tune-up for the brighter playoff lights the Rockets will see come April.
In the Houston locker room, there was the excitement of youth about the opportunity of the NBA Cup — talk of prize money and a trip to Las Vegas if they win. The team is motivated.
Wednesday night we see how ready they are for a bigger NBA stage.
