Houston’s Horrible First Quarter Leads to Loss in Phoenix

The Houston Rockets have lost consecutive games for the first time this season after getting embarrassed by the Phoenix Suns last night. Despite fighting back to make it a competitive game, their lackluster start proved to be too much to overcome. What makes matters worse is that Houston’s struggles were almost entirely self-inflicted. 

Heading into this matchup, we knew that turnovers would be a point of emphasis for Ime Udoka and his team. They just came off of a season-high with 22 in their last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

It’s no secret that this issue didn’t simply disappear with the addition of Fred VanVleet. Their 15.7 average through 10 games this season is actually slightly higher than their 15.2 turnovers per game last year. They still have work to do, and Phoenix would’ve been the team to make those improvements against. 

If you checked out the pregame injury report, you’d know that the Suns excel at scoring points off of turnovers. Nearly one out of every five points they score comes from opposing teams giving the ball away. That’s exactly what we saw in the first quarter. 

The Rockets had one turnover for every two minutes of play to start the game, and Phoenix took advantage every time. Six turnovers led to twelve easy points for the opposition. That also helped Phoenix shoot 75-percent from the field in their 35-point opening. 

Coming into the game, we also knew Houston would have an advantage on the glass. That remained true, despite being without both Steven Adams and Clint Capela. Unfortunately it didn’t matter with the Rockets unable to convert on second chance points. 

Even though they snagged three offensive rebounds in the first quarter, the Rockets didn’t get a single bucket out of it. Amen Thompson got fouled and drained two free-throws, but the missed shots made those extra possessions feel worthless. They finished the first quarter with 23 points on 40-percent shooting. 

The Suns’ 12-point lead grew to 18 for a large chuck of the next quarter, and was only cut into thanks to them committing some unforced turnovers of their own. We somehow went into halftime knotted at 47, but it felt like Houston was extremely lucky to be in the game at all. 

While they managed to go back and forth for the remaining 24 minutes of action, the damage was already done. Overcoming a 19-point deficit on the road is difficult, especially when you’re turning the ball over and missing easy shots. They shot themselves in the foot early and weren’t able to recover. 

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