Having avoided playing Tari Eason and Steven Adams in back-to-back games, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka utilized both against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, with Eason thriving in a 119-111 home victory ahead of a showdown against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
Both Eason and Adams will be unavailable against the visiting Warriors in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.
The Rockets’ depth, a strong suit earlier this season, has been compromised by injuries and injury management, the latter being the reason for resting Eason and Adams in back-to-backs.
Eason had 25 points, nine rebounds, a season-high tying four assists and three steals against the Suns. He spearheaded a balanced attack that included Jalen Green adding 22 points, Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson scoring 18 apiece and Alperen Sengun chipping in 17 points and 13 rebounds. Thompson also contributed 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his fourth career triple-double.
Still, the Rockets remain hamstrung by the absences of Fred VanVleet (ankle) and Jabari Smith Jr. (hand), though Smith is on the brink of returning from his six-week absence after the break. The constant rotation tweaks have stalled the team’s progress, but they have provided Udoka a chance to unearth additional options.
“Some guys will be in different roles,” Udoka said. “With Amen starting and Jabari coming back and Fred getting back healthy, we’ve had a chance to look at what guys can do in different positions.
“Hopefully Steven and Tari and those guys can get back-to-backs eventually and we just continue to use our depth to try and overwhelm people. That’s what you kind of saw early in the season, but the injuries and guys being out of place at times has affected us some.”
The Warriors lost on Wednesday for the first time since Jimmy Butler arrived at the trade deadline, falling 111-107 to the Dallas Mavericks in the fifth game of a seven-game road trip that concludes following the All-Star break.
Golden State rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit but couldn’t finish off short-handed Dallas, squandering an opportunity at its first three-game winning streak since mid-November. Despite the result, the Warriors provided an example of their potential with Butler working in concert with Stephen Curry, as that duo combined for 22 fourth-quarter points to fuel the comeback.
“Throughout the game, we just had … little mental mistakes,” Golden State guard Gary Payton II said following the defeat. “We’re going to have some turnovers and whatnot, but one mental mistake can lead to a flurry of shots and makes, so we’ve just got to lock in mentally … and I think we’ll be all right.”
Curry finished with 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists, and Butler posted 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Work remains to ease the transition for both players and the Warriors as a whole, but the early results have been positive for a team that was idling before the seismic acquisition.
“It’s made sense so far,” Curry said. “You see the positives of what Jimmy brings on both ends of the floor. He’s a high-IQ guy, a competitor. He plays under control all the time, and we’ve put pieces around him with different lineups. We’re still trying to figure that out.
“It’s been good so far. I’m excited about building some momentum. We want to end the road trip right. We’ve got an opportunity to do something pretty special considering where we’ve been this season.”
–Field Level Media
