The Houston Rockets let another one slip away, and this one stings. After a strong win in Denver that had fans thinking this team was turning a corner, the Rockets followed it up by dropping a winnable game in Sacramento, falling to the Kings in overtime, 125-124.
It’s become something of an unfortunate tradition-Houston finding ways to lose to teams they should beat, and Sacramento seems to be one of those teams that always finds a way to sneak one past them. This wasn’t just a trap game. It was a missed opportunity, part of a pattern that’s starting to define the Rockets’ season.
Yes, it was the second night of a back-to-back, and yes, Steven Adams was out. But other teams manage to stay competitive in those situations.
The Rockets? They looked flat, disjointed, and once again, unable to close.
That’s becoming a theme, and it’s a concerning one.
This was the third overtime loss for Houston in recent weeks. One of them-the OT loss to Denver-came with some questionable officiating, and the NBA’s own Last Two Minute Report backs that up.
That game, you can live with. The other two?
Not so much.
Against the Pelicans, the Rockets coughed up a 25-point lead. In this one, they let the Kings hang around, never really putting the game away despite having multiple chances to do so. It wasn’t a total collapse, but it was another case of a team that didn’t play with enough urgency or cohesion when it mattered most.
Here’s the thing about overtime games: if you’re there, you had a shot to win. The Rockets have had three of those recently-and they’ve lost all three.
Now, there were some positives. Most notably, Tari Eason made his return and looked sharp.
He dropped 16 points in just 16 minutes, hitting 6-of-8 from the field and going a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. That’s the kind of efficient production Houston’s been missing, and if Eason can ramp up to 30+ minutes a night with that kind of offensive rhythm, he’s going to be a major asset.
But even he had a moment he’d like back-according to head coach Ime Udoka, Eason lost his man on the game-sealing three by Sacramento. Chalk that up to some post-injury rust, but it was a costly lapse.
The Rockets aren’t in crisis mode, but they’re in a stretch of the schedule that’s testing them-and right now, they’re not passing the test. They’ve shown they can rise to the occasion against top-tier teams, but they’ve also shown a troubling inability to finish games they should win. Outside of the loss to the Spurs, where they were clearly outplayed, most of their recent losses have been self-inflicted.
This game was a clear example of that. Houston played down to Sacramento’s level, like a team that thinks it’s already arrived.
But they haven’t. Not yet.
Losses to teams like Utah, New Orleans, Sacramento, and Dallas are reminders that this team still has a lot of growing up to do.
They lost the rebounding battle to a Kings squad that started a rookie at center and played with essentially one true power forward. Defensive breakdowns were everywhere.
The turnover count wasn’t sky-high, but the ones they did commit were brutal-momentum killers that sucked the energy out of their runs. It wasn’t just about the numbers, it was about the timing and the lack of execution when it mattered.
So where does that leave us? The Rockets shot the ball well.
They got a promising performance from Eason. But they didn’t rebound, didn’t defend late, and didn’t close.
That’s the difference between a team that’s learning to win and a team that already knows how.
There’s still time for Houston to figure it out. The talent is there.
The effort, in stretches, is there. But until they clean up the mental mistakes and start treating every opponent like a threat, they’re going to keep giving away games like this.
And in a tight Western Conference race, those are the kinds of losses that come back to haunt you.