Why the Rockets need to trade Christian Wood before the deadline
PRESENTED BY FITZ ROOFING
30 December 2021
PRESENTED BY FITZ ROOFING
The Rockets put up a competitive fight against LeBron James and the Lakers Tuesday night, but eventually came up short. The box score shows solid performances from the Rockets' young stars, but maybe it's time the Rockets bid farewell to the star big man who will be looking for a max contract after next season. Patrick Creighton joins Joel Blank to talk about Christian Wood's inconsistency on defense and rebounding, and why the Rockets may not want to wait any longer before cashing in on his value.
Presented by Fitz Roofing.
Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet had 21 points each and the Houston Rockets built a huge lead early and coasted to a 127-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night.
Houston never trailed and had built a 25-point lead by halftime. The Rockets were up by 27 points when coach Ime Udoka cleared the bench with about 6½ minutes remaining.
Alperen Sengun added 16 points for the Rockets, who won for the fourth time in five games. VanVleet had 10 assists and seven rebounds — both season-highs — to go with his top scoring effort of the season.
Victor Wembanyama had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Spurs, who lost a second straight game. They were playing a third consecutive game without coach Gregg Popovich, who is out indefinitely while recovering from an illness. Mitch Johnson is filling in as interim coach while the 75-year-old Popovich, who did not travel with the team on this road trip, is out.
Spurs: San Antonio’s defense suffered Wednesday in its first game without top on-ball defender Jeremy Sochan, who suffered a fractured left thumb that will require surgery in Monday’s game. Rookie Stephon Castle, who started in his place, will need to step up with Sochan likely out for an extended period.
Rockets: After failing to play consistently for four quarters in the last two games, Houston finally put together a complete game against the Spurs.
The Rockets were up by 7 with about five minutes left in the first quarter before using a 7-0 run, with the first five points by VanVleet, to make it 22-8. The Spurs didn’t get closer than 10 points after that.
The Rockets dominated inside, outscoring the Spurs 66-46 in the paint.
San Antonio hosts Portland on Thursday night and the Rockets visit Oklahoma City on Friday night.
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