Rockets rally late again, win 121-118
3-pointers from Rockets versus Heat
Mar 1, 2019, 8:06 am
Tim Warren/Getty Images
The Houston Rockets put their resiliency on display Thursday night as they rallied for the second night in a row to spoil Dwyane Wade's final trip to the Toyota Center with the Miami Heat. Trailing by as much as 21 points in the third, the shorthanded Rockets squad buckled down on defense and let James Harden once again do James Harden things. The result was a come from behind victory, improving their winning streak to four games. The Rockets are now 37-25, remain first in the Southwest Division and fifth in the Western Conference.
Bombs away
In most close games against teams with worse records than the Rockets, it's good practice to seek out their three point percentage as the likely culprit. Usually poor shooting nights from beyond the arc are what allow worse teams to remain competitive, but on Thursday night that was simply not the case. Houston shot 41.6% from behind the line, nailing 19-46. Harden removed doubt that his shooting struggles were anything beyond a stiff neck, burying 8-18 threes after shooting just 1-21 earlier in the week.
Harden goes off
With Eric Gordon, Kenneth Faried, and Iman Shumpert all out with injuries, Harden saw the need for extra offense and brought just that. In a game that featured seven of the nine Heat players that saw minutes reaching double digits scoring figures, the Rockets remained true to their season long tactic of letting Harden tear teams aparts all by himself. Austin Rivers added 17, and Chris Paul and Gary Clark each added 14, but it was Harden's 58 point, 10 assist barrage that carried Houston past Miami Thursday night. It was his sixth 50-point performance of the season, a feat no other player has matched more than once in 2018-2019.
Rough sledding ahead
The Rockets will need to build on the momentum their current four game winning streak has created heading into next week. After a week of near misses against non playoff opponents, Houston faces a slate of matchups against far less forgiving competition next week. Houston travels to Boston to take on the Celtics Sunday afternoon, followed by an away contest against the Toronto Raptors and a home game with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rockets Player of the Game
James Harden: 58 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals
Heat Player of the Game
Dwyane Wade: It was his last game in Houston, c'mon.
Up next:
The Rockets take on the Celtics at Boston on Sunday at 2:30 pm central.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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