The NBA Cup Taught Houston a Valuable Lesson

The Houston Rockets watched another team raise the NBA Cup trophy, but they may have found learned key takeaways from their run that fell short.

Dec 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) defends against Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the fourth quarter in a semifinal of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets left a lot of points on the floor in their NBA Cup semifinal loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The offense displayed its inefficiency once again, and Oklahoma City took advantage. They kept the game close until their superstar woke up and finished the job. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rebounded from a tough first half to close the game against Houston. It was a difficult loss.

However, the Rockets learned a lot about themselves during this tournament.

For one, the defense is exactly how they wanted it to be, as the Rockets have held teams to an average of 104 points per game. While the offense did not produce how it would have liked during the knockout stages, the defensive attack and effort stayed consistent throughout both games. There are no moral victories after a loss, but this NBA Cup run was a culture-defining stretch. National coverage magnified the moment, and the league watched Houston show how active and aggressive it is on a nightly basis.

To revisit the offense, it actually performed fairly well in the group stage.

The Rockets averaged just above 109 points per game throughout the entire run. They averaged over 117 points in the group stage. Different players took turns having big games for the Rockets in that phase.

First, it was Jabari Smith Jr. with a 28-point night to begin the tournament. Then, Dillon Brooks matched Smith with 28 points of his own in the following game. Fred VanVleet nearly reached that total against the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with an Alperen Sengun triple-double. Jalen Green however, did match 28 points in the group stage closing defeat against the Sacramento Kings.

The group stage showed the Rockets truly have a committee approach to the offense. Any player is capable of a big night offensively, and the Rockets benefited from at least one player lifting a heavy load on offense. On the other side of that coin, that play style may have been born in response to the offensive inconsistency of the team's top players.

The NBA Cup showed that the best teams still have a great offense to pair with a great defense. Teams that can't produce enough offensively will be left in the dust despite obtaining a strong defensive identity.

The Rockets learned how necessary it is to find consistent scoring to compete at the highest level. The best teams in the NBA are consistent on both sides of the ball, and both sides are at an elite level.

Houston proved that it truly is elite defensively. It also proved that there's only so much a good defense can do if the ball isn't going through the bucket.

The final lesson for the Rockets is that they're not too far from standing eye-to-eye with some of the top teams in the NBA. Houston has the assets to increase its scoring output, whether through players already on the team or tradeable assets.

There likely won't be any major trades during this season, making the former the supposed plan until next summer. However, if one of the young players can find a consistently high level of scoring by the end of the season, the team might really be neck-and-neck with some of the teams it's chasing.

The Rockets may not have achieved their ultimate goal, but they took away plenty of lessons that made the trip to Las Vegas an educational experience.

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