PHOENIX — In a odd scheduling quirk with three games against the same opponent over nine games, the Houston Rockets had their mental and physical abilities challenged by the Suns. There was consistent trash talk from All-Star guard Devin Booker, whose words are almost as verbally abusive as his physical style of play.
Yet, the one thing the Suns may not have considered is that this isn’t the Rockets from previous years, who may have let Phoenix get away with some of those on-court bullying antics — which are meant to get inside the heads of opposing players while throwing them off. This new, veteran-led Houston team quickly instilled a mindset and culture into the young Rockets that no one would bully them.
Over those three games, Houston went 2-1 versus a high-powered offense led by Booker and Kevin Durant, and a Suns team (35-25) which ranks sixth in the Western Conference standings. More importantly, Saturday’s win broke a nine-game road losing streak.
“I like the fight, I like the intensity,” said Rockets guard Fred VanVleet. “We are a young team, and we have to use that energy to our advantage, and we are not getting punked by anybody, so that is definitely not going to happen. We bring that fight. If things get chippy, that means that both teams are playing hard.”
The back-and-forth between the two teams started last week in Houston when rookie Cam Whitmore and Booker got into a small skirmish that had been building up throughout the game when both players took opportunities to exchange words up and down the court. One week later, the bad blood boiled over in Phoenix when the two got into another heated exchange during Thursday’s fourth quarter.
“I like it,” Booker said of Whitmore’s approach after the second incident. “I’ve been in these situations plenty of times before. I was that same, young player doing that same thing. I remember doing it to Jimmy Butler my rookie year, him going in the postgame talking about me. You never want to back down, and I respect going at a top player. You just gotta be ready for it.”
On Saturday, the Suns were back to their bullying tactics, with veteran guard Bradley Beal seeming to follow his teammates’ lead. But this time, he was quickly ejected after getting into a shoving match with Houston’s Jalen Green — who was giving the Suns fits on his way to a second straight 34-point scoring outburst.
Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet said after Thursday’s game against the Suns that they were not backing down from anyone…And they are not tonight either…#Sarge pic.twitter.com/duD7QsXm5I
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) March 3, 2024
One game after Houston had its worst shooting performance of the season (33.7% FG) — and after trailing by 16 points in the first quarter — they took control of Saturday’s game early by scoring 38 points in the first quarter. That set the tone for the remainder of the night.
“It was good to see that fight and physicality,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said postgame. “I think we had that from the start. It was obviously night and day from the last game, when we got off to a poor start. Tonight, we kind of jumped on them, and they had to struggle to come back. Everything they threw, we took it and made big plays when we had to. I loved our physicality and aggressiveness and throwing bodies around.”
Houston (26-34) now goes home for a quick back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday before heading back on the road this weekend.
