After dominating the Bucks, the Sixers and the Suns twice, the Rockets failed to hang the Heat’s scalp on their roster. However, everything was played on the last possession since Kevin Porter Jr. misses the 3-point equalizer, and Miami wins 111-108. It’s terribly frustrating for Houston since they had achieved an almost perfect “money time” so far.
Led 111-99 five minutes from the end, the Rockets will chain stops, to the point of no longer conceding a single point. In defense, Usman Garuba is remarkable, and it is he after a snatched offensive rebound, which takes advantage of a good shift from Eric Gordon to bring the Rockets to -3 (111-108) with 41 seconds remaining. Behind, Herro misses his shot, Jabari Smith Jr. takes the rebound, and Stephen Silas takes a time-out. Houston has 12 seconds to tie.
The ball for Kevin Porter Jr with Garuba to make several screens for him, and the Houston point guard manages to find a nice position. But his shot hits the back of the circle. Rebound Miami which calmly manages the last two seconds to sign a 3rd victory in a row.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
Hero in the story. Last night, Tyler Herro became the first player in history to go two games in a row with at least 9 3-point shots scored! After his 9 of 17 against the Thunder, he achieved a superb 10 of 15 against Houston. This is both a personal record and a franchise record! Better, his 41 points are also a career high.
A last badly managed possession? What to do when there are 10 to 15 seconds left in a tight game, and you have just taken the rebound. Should we take a time-out or let the players fend for themselves? Stephen Silas chose to take a time-out, and Kevin Porter Jr. felt it was the wrong choice. “Personally, I would have liked to continue after the rebound on the last “stop”. But we had to attack against a defense in place, and Miami is good when they have the possibility of putting their defense.
Permanent DIY. Erik Spoelstra continues to juggle the entries, exits and rests of his players. That night, Gabe Vincent, Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo, Bam Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon were absent. Long uncertain, Jimmy Butler finally played, but at 50% of his possibilities.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Tyler Hero. The best sixth man of 2022 sets two career records, and he makes more 3-point shots than all the Rockets combined! It was he who allowed the Heat not to sink at the start of the 4th quarter.
✅ Jimmy Butler. Originally placed on the disabled list, Butler played, and he let the game come to him. No isolation, no powerful drive, no long shot… And yet, he weighed in the 4th quarter, and he signed an ultra complete match.
✅ Usman Garuba. He only plays 20 minutes but his energy allowed the Rockets to afford a match point. He remains frustrated in attack, but he is everywhere in defense and throws himself on all the rebounds.
✅ ⛔Kevin Porter Jr. It’s always a bit the same with the Rockets point guard… He’s got crazy talent, and he’s capable of catching fire. But there is too much waste, and we can blame him for not speeding up the game. Faced with an older and very diminished formation, we would have liked him to make his teammates run.
THE FOLLOWING
Houston (9-19) : reception of the Blazers on Saturday evening.
Miami (15-15) : heading to Mexico City to face Spurs on Saturday.
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