The race for the 10th and final place in the Western Conference, synonymous with “play-in” in the West, remains tense between the Rockets and the Warriors, who are two victories apart. We can even write three victories since the Warriors have the “tiebreaker”while the two teams must still meet this Thursday evening.
A crucial, even decisive, meeting for the Rockets who do not want to spoil their superb month of March. With only eight games left until the end of the season, Ime Udoka's players want to play their luck until the end. If only to avoid throwing away the end of the season, as they have been accustomed to doing for three years.
“To still play for something, to string together victories, to play against quality teams… It’s invaluable for our young people to experience that. Just getting through the current period and getting above 50% wins this late in the season is huge for them” underlines the Houston coach.
Prepare for next season by playing each match like a final
In the Houston ChronicleIme Udoka highlights above all the progress of a young team, and the mental qualities that his young people have demonstrated in recent weeks.
“The main thing is our resilience”, he continues. “A few players got injured… Alperen (Şengun) is one of our best players. Then, our bench had to be without Cam (Whitmore) and several players were injured at different times… But the group pulled together, found solutions to get through it and the players had to assume different roles. The pace of the attack quickened. They realized the importance of defense. We saw the same things when Fred (VanVleet) was out, or Jabari or Dillon (Brooks)… It's up to the next player to show up. The guys increased their workload and productivity. Resilience was the main element. We make no excuses, and we just do our job. »
For Jabari Smith Jr, each game is a kind of final, and the schedule is tough: Wolves, Warriors, Heat (back-to-back), Magic and Clippers.
“Every match must be won,” sums up the young strong winger. “The competitive spirit, the fight, the tenacity, the culture that we are trying to establish will certainly help us. This mentality of winning every game will help us move forward and prepare for next season. »
Tie breaker : when two teams have the same record at the end of the season, home advantage is determined by a series of successive criteria. The first is that of the results of the regular season meetings between the two clubs.
