John Wall, Kelly Olynyk, and Christian Wood all had big nights versus Indiana, but the Houston Rockets were unable to overcome subpar bench units in Wednesday’s 132-124 loss (box score) at Toyota Center.
Wall had a game-high 31 points and 9 assists, while Wood (25 points, 13 rebounds) and Olynyk (25 points, 10 rebounds) each had 25-point double-doubles. Houston had a positive point-differential with all three on the floor, and the Rockets were +8 in minutes with Wall and Wood.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t enough, since Houston was -16 in the 11 minutes that Wall and Wood did not play. The four reserves to play for the Rockets (Armoni Brooks, Avery Bradley, KJ Martin, and D.J. Wilson) all had point differentials of -12 or worse in limited playing time.
The Rockets gave up 75 points in the first half and 42 in the second quarter, which was reminiscent of when Phoenix scored 81 points in the first half on Monday. In both cases, Houston battled back and made it a competitive game by the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too large.
The Pacers were led by Caris Levert (27 points), Malcolm Brogdon (23 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists) and Domantas Sabonis (22 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists), while Jeremy Lamb added 18 points off the bench and often took advantage of Houston’s sluggish reserve units.
The Rockets did have six players out injured for yet another game, which undoubtedly contributed to their depth issues.
See below for a compilation of highlights and postgame reaction. Houston finishes up its two-game homestand by hosting the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central.
Stephen Silas: "It's not the schemes, it's not whatever. It's the effort." #Rockets
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) April 15, 2021
Stephen Silas: "Pace has been good. Offense has been fine…It's the same story. We get off to a bad start then we try hard in the second half. That's got to be fixed…That's not how we should play. That's now how we should represent the #Rockets…We're gonna fix it."
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) April 15, 2021
Coach Silas: "The difference between the beginning of the game and the third quarter for the last however many games. It's not even close. You can see it. I can see it. Everybody watches the game can see it."https://t.co/hzMssVV5hM via @YouTube
— Kris M Gardner (@TheHRReview) April 15, 2021
