The Rockets lost to the Trail Blazers 104-85 Tuesday to move to 1-5 on the season. Coach Mike D’Antoni was blunt when describing his team’s start.
“Last year we played well,” he said, via the Houston Chronicle. “Right now, we’re playing like crap.”
D’Antoni: “Last year we played well. Right now, we’re playing like crap.” #Rockets
Houston has lost its five games by an average of 14.4 points. It has dropped three games by 19 or more. The Rockets are 25th in the NBA in points allowed per game (118.8). They were sixth last year (103.9).
Some of the Rockets struggles can be credited to James Harden going down with a hamstring injury against the Jazz last Wednesday.
Houston is 0-2 in two games without the reigning MVP and Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony are struggling to pick up the slack. The two All-Stars combined to score 25 points on 8-of-31 shooting in Tuesday’s loss. Not all of the blame can go to that, though, as Houston was 1-3 in games with Harden, as well.
D’Antoni did not pass blame.
“I’m down like everybody else. … We’ve got to get this going,” D’Antoni said.
He continued: “We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better.”
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Houston’s next two games see it match up with two of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference in the Nets (2-5) and the Bulls (2-5).
As poor as their records may be, though, they still have higher winning percentages than the Rockets.
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