Rockets Game 6 Notebook: Frustration Builds Amid Loss To Trail Blazers

Amid their 14-point defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers, coach Stephen Silas departed the Moda Center full of frustration in the Houston Rockets.

HOUSTON — Through the first five games of the 2022-23 campaign, coach Stephen Silas has found a silver lining in each loss— mainly the fight the Houston Rockets have showcased against their opponents.

The Rockets' sixth game of the season followed an identical script inside the Moda Center Friday night. Houston fell behind by double-digits (18 points) to the Portland Trail Blazers but came within five points late in the third quarter in hopes of pulling off an improbable comeback. 

But instead of focusing on the grit and fight, Silas displayed frustration after the Rockets sustained a 125-111 loss to the Trail Blazers.     

"We should have been frustrated with how we played — especially in the first half," Silas said. "It wasn't that we were not playing hard. But we were not doing what we were supposed to do. We had to put a lot of pressure on our offense because of our defense. Our lack of execution on offense was bleeding into our defense."

Silas has showcased his desire to enhance the Rockets' defensive production since the conclusion of last season. Houston has shown some improvements on the defensive side of the ball through the first five games, but the Rockets' struggles on defense catapulted in Portland. 

The Rockets notched a defensive net rating of 123.8 against the Trail Blazers and had no defensive answer for Anfernee Simons. He scored 23 of his game-high 30 points during the first half, where he connected on seven out of his first 11 3-point field goal attempts. 

Due to the on-court production of Jusuf Nurkic, the Trail Blazers obliterated the Rockets from the inside. With 27 points from Nurkic, Portland scored 64 points in the paint against the Rockets.

Silas said after the game that he should have given the player defending Nurkic more support.

"He's a big guy," Silas said. "We are a little bit smaller, and Alperen [Sengun] is just coming back from being sick. We had [Jae'Sean] Tate on him some. We started to have some success playing him in the front. But they started getting him right in the paint, which made it impossible to double-team him.

"Just not a good night, and we have to do better."

A recipe for success?

Since the Rockets' season opener against the Atlanta Hawks, Silas has revealed that he was still assessing which players play well together with different lineups. Injuries have hindered Silas' chances of putting together the right combination of talent.

But at the 2:49 mark of the second quarter, the Rockets trailed the Trail Blazers 66-48 when Silas touted a lineup of Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, Eric Gordon, Jae'Sean Tate and Jabari Smith Jr.

The Rockets closed out the second quarter on a 10-3 run, which made the lineup Houston's most successful period of the first half.

Houston played to their desire of wanting to play as a fast-paced team that can make defensive stops. Following their performance against the Trail Blazers, the combination of Green, Gordon, Porter, Tate and Smith has notched a defensive net rating of 85.7 while recording an average of 117.8 in pace.

Quick Hits:

- Alperen Sengun returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games due to an illness. Sengun, who made his first start of the season, recorded 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

- Jalen Green had one of the least efficient games of his young career. He scored 11 points while shooting 4-of-19 from the field. Eric Gordon led the Rockets in scoring with 18 points and five assists.

- Josh Christopher played the final 58 seconds of the game following a DNP in the loss to the Utah Jazz Wednesday night. Christopher has seen a decline in minutes through the first six games of the season. Last year he averaged 18.0 minutes per game. But this year, Christopher's minutes have decreased to 7.4 minutes per game.

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You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24

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