{"id":111566,"date":"2024-12-10T19:37:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=111566"},"modified":"2024-12-10T19:37:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:37:11","slug":"saving-grace-of-houston-rockets-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/10\/saving-grace-of-houston-rockets-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"The Saving Grace Of The Houston Rockets Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets have a quarter of the season<\/a> behind them and the NBA Cup quarterfinals<\/a> ahead of them. They’re in that position despite sporting one of the lowest effective field goal percentages<\/a> in the league. The team’s tenacious defensive identity<\/a> is well-known at this point. But defense alone can’t carry an offense with no shooting and no superstars<\/a>. The Rockets’ offense also has persistence on its side.<\/p>\n

The Saving Grace Of The Houston Rockets Offense<\/h2>\n

Making Getting Blocked An Art Form<\/h3>\n

Last season, the Rockets were one of the most blocked<\/a> teams in the NBA. A quarter of the way through the season, they are once again<\/a>. The Rockets see 6.4 of their shots swatted per game, fourth-most in the league. The only other team with a positive record in the top seven most are their arch-rivals<\/a>, the Golden State Warriors. The offensive ratings of those most blocked teams are an eclectic mix though.<\/p>\n

The Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz are the two most<\/em> blocked teams and their offensive ratings are both in the bottom six. But Golden State and Houston are both middle-of-the-pack in offensive rating. Houston manages that despite having the fourth-lowest<\/a> effective field goal percentage in the NBA.<\/p>\n

Houston Can’t Shoot a Lick<\/h3>\n

The fact is that Houston can’t shoot well. Fourth-year stars<\/a> Jalen Green<\/a> and Alperen Sengun<\/a> both started the season on a bright note from three but have gone dark since. Amen Thompson<\/a> just recently bludgeoned his way up to 30% from three. Jabari Smith Jr.<\/a> has looked more confident<\/a> in his shot recently but isn’t lighting the world on fire.\u00a0And promising rookie and theoretical sharpshooter<\/a>, Reed Sheppard<\/a>, looks like someone lit him<\/em> on fire every time he touches the ball.<\/p>\n

The season has seen a gradual expansion of operations into the midrange for Houston’s most promising prospects,\u00a0Thompson<\/a> and Sengun<\/a>. Sengun in particular is shooting 52.1% on 2.0<\/a> shots from 10-14 feet per game. In Thompson’s case, any make outside five feet is a celebrated development. The team overall still struggles<\/a> from that area though, and does so taking the fifth-most<\/a> attempts in the league.<\/p>\n