Houston snaps a lengthy road skid in Detroit, fueled by clutch free throws after struggling the night before.
After three weeks without a road win, a January game in Detroit held more importance than it typically might. The Rockets’ stay in Philly got extended in the worst way possible: an overtime loss. Snapping their four game win streak while extending their road losing streak to five, as covered here.
This makes the 111-104 victory a bit surprising for Houston, but maybe it’s what we should come to expect in 2026? Whether it’s the Rockets being more locked in after a bad loss, or just simply a coincidence —— they managed to mirror last week's schedule, where they lost to OKC Thursday before bouncing back against Minnesota on Friday.
We definitely saw a big bounce back from the poor free throw shooting that was previously discussed on Roundtable. The 50-percent night in Philly was directly responsible for their six point loss. Making twice as many free throws against the Pistons (24/30) was a crucial part of their turnaround 24 hours later.
While Alperen Sengun still shot his average of 70-percent, Reed Sheppard’s 5/5 night was a big help with him struggling from deep. Improving from 74.5 to 76.9-percent in one game, you’d like to see that continue to go up. The same goes for the likes of Josh Okogie, Tari Eason, and Jabari Smith Jr. —— with the first two shooting below 70-percent on the season. Slight improvements from players who get minimal attempts can still improve the team percentage.
Even including their double digit losses, the Rockets lose by an average of 7.6 points, per NBA stats. With 25 free throws per game, shooting only 70-percent as a team leaves exactly 7.5 points on the board in every loss. Obviously no team will shoot anywhere close to 100-percent, but leaving so many free points on the board will always be a detriment.