Not great, but solid win

The Rockets report, brought to you by APG&E: Rockets defeat Kings on the road 113-104

The Rockets report, brought to you by APG&E: Rockets defeat Kings on the road 113-104

This wasn't a great win by any means for the Rockets, but it was definitely solid. Houston's fast-pace and high scoring effort put the Kings in a hole early on and the Rockets played decent enough defense to hold off a Sacramento run.

Was it pretty? No, but it didn't have to be.

As the few several games have been, this was yet another game that confirmed what we've seen from Russell Westbrook the past couple weeks is real - he's still a legitimate NBA All-Star with the ability to rise to higher levels on occasion. This might sound like a silly thing to confirm, but his early season returns combined with his last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder gave Rockets' fans appropriate fear that perhaps the Westbrook of a few years ago simply doesn't exist anymore. Tonight, he showed again how he could still be a pretty nice second option on a potential title contender.

De'Aaron Fox was relentless against Houston, tallying 31 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists on 13 of 31 shooting from the field. Fox was the main driving force that kept Sacramento within striking distance until late in the fourth quarter. Trevor Ariza also fared well against his former team, logging 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal on 4 of 8 shooting from the field and 2 of 5 shooting from three-point range.

You'd like to see Houston sustain a lead so their starters can get rest late in the fourth quarter, but this was a solid win for the team, nonetheless.

Star of the game: This was a run of the mill James Harden game in that he had 35 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block on 10 of 19 shooting from the field, 4 of 11 shooting from three-point range, and 10 of 12 shooting from the free throw line. I guess we have to accept this statline as the new normal for Harden. Perhaps pedestrian by his standards this season. In all seriousness, Harden was very good and there's not much else to say here.

Honorable mention: Russell Westbrook keeps adding to his collection of very good and efficient games leading one to the natural conclusion that the run he's on may not be a fluke. Westbrook logged 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal on 10 of 22 shooting from the field, 3 of 4 shooting from three-point range, and 5 of 6 shooting from the free throw line. Ever since he's healed up from the summer knee surgery he received and his finger injuries, Westbrook has performed as the true number two option to Harden that they hoped they'd get once they made the trade.

Key moment: The third quarter is really where the Rockets made their money, outscoring the Kings 32-22 and shooting 13 of 21 from the field (61.9) and 4 of 6 from three-point range (66.7%). Westbrook and Harden led the charge, combining for 18 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field. This gave Houston a 97-79 lead, enough to hold on and win it in the end despite the Kings surging back in the 4th quarter.

Up next: The Rockets travel to San Francisco at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday to play the Golden State Warriors.

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The Astros' offense needs a reset. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.

The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. In the batter’s box he has often looked befuddled. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.

All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.

As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.

Familiar faces return

This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.

Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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