Rockets seek to correct habit of slow starts - Houston Chronicle

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Jonathan Feigen

Jan. 31, 2021Updated: Jan. 31, 2021 5:51 p.m.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Gary Trent Jr. (2) fouls on Houston Rockets guard John Wall (1) during the second quarter of the NBA game Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at Toyota Center in Houston.

Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer

For all the improvements the Rockets have made, their play in first quarters has remained a problem, even in the winning streak.

They came back to win after trailing by 20 against the Trail Blazers and by 11 in New Orleans, their first comebacks from double-digit deficits to win this season, but they rank just 24th in the NBA in net rating in the opening quarter. Even in the five-game winning streak, they have ranked just 20th.

The slow starts have been on both ends. Defensively, where the Rockets have the top rating in the NBA during the winning streak, they have ranked just 19th in the opening quarter.

“We really have been talking about having a defensive mindset coming into games and not allowing our makes or misses dictate whether we’re going to have a good start to the game,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “Some games it’s been like a make-or-miss thing, missing shots we can make and they’ve been running out on us. Some games it’s been energy.

“It’s definitely something we’ve been talking quite a bit about and showing the difference between, for instance the first quarter last night — I didn’t think we were awful, we just missed some shots we should have made — and the second quarter when everything came together. At a time like this, when you’re on a winning streak, you can highlight the positive and make sure we continue to do those positive things. But it is also easier to point out the mistakes that you’re making as a group and fix them without hammering guys.”

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The Rockets have cited an ability to overcome slow starts in their past two games but said they cannot rely on that.

“Trust and believe, that’s not the way we want to start,” guard John Wall said. “And I know that’s not the way coach wants us to start the game. Just to find ways to win those games and compete and come back with a win, that’s big for us later down the road.”

Reach Jonathan on

Jonathan Feigen has been the Rockets beat writer since 1998 and a basketball nut since before Willis Reed limped out for Game 7. He became a sports writer because the reporter that was supposed to cover the University of Delaware basketball team decided to instead play one more season of college lacrosse and has never looked back.

Feigen, who has won APSE, APME and United States Basketball Writers Association awards from El Campo to Houston, came to Texas in 1981 to cover the Rice Birds, was Sports Editor in Garland before moving to Dallas to cover everything from the final hurrah of the Southwest Conference to SMU after the death penalty.

After joining the Houston Chronicle in 1990, Feigen has covered the demise of the SWC, the rise of the Big 12 and the Rockets at their championship best.

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