Rockets surprised by heat attack
We know: attack on Heat has evolved this season, with a very fast pace and very little screen usage. Erik Spoelstra made some adjustments during the campaign, especially to help Tyler Herro, but the basic idea is there, with one-on-one use of all players, to target specific defenders.
Last night was the first time the Rockets faced this new offense and Ime Udoka was clearly not happy with what he saw. Houston thus received 66 points, which is the Texans’ third worst performance of the season on the field…
“We weren’t strong enough (in our duels)”, the coach explainedwho asked his players to score goals. Without thinking it would open up so many lanes for Erik Spoelstra’s players.
A different style
It must be said that the Heat systematically attacked certain defenders, e.g Jeff Green or Alperen Sengun.
“We just have to defend our racket better, we have the mentality to defend our territory” Kevin Durant said, while Amen Thompson admitted that the offense in Florida was surprising.
“They just play different. . . . Sometimes you expect to have to deal with a screen and they just turn it away”said Ausar’s brother, who admits the Rockets staff did warn their players that the Heat only set a few screens. “I didn’t feel like we were ready to handle this.”
See you on March 21, at the second (and last) duel between the two teams, on the side of Houston.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | That | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Ft | Pts |
| Kevin Durant | 55 | 36:34 | 50.8 | 40.2 | 88.6 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 26.1 |
| Alperen Sengun | 51 | 33:44 | 50.0 | 29.5 | 69.3 | 3.1 | 6.1 | 9.2 | 6.4 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 20.4 |
| Amen Thompson | 56 | 37:01 | 51.0 | 19.4 | 78.2 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 7.6 | 5.3 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 17.3 |
| Jabari Smith Jr | 57 | 34:49 | 45.5 | 36.8 | 76.9 | 1.5 | 5.4 | 6.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 15.5 |
| Reed Sheppard | 58 | 24:52 | 43.2 | 39.8 | 79.1 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 13.1 |
| Tara Eason | 36 | 26:08 | 44.5 | 43.2 | 68.4 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 11.5 |
| Steven Adams | 32 | 22:49 | 50.4 | 0 | 58.0 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 8.6 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 5.8 |
| Aaron Holliday | 37 | 13:16 | 41.9 | 39.6 | 85.7 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 5.8 |
| Josh Okogie | 55 | 19:37 | 43.9 | 39.7 | 59.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 5.3 |
| Clint Capela | 52 | 11:51 | 51.3 | 0 | 61.4 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 4.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 3.6 |
| Dorian Finney-Smith | 24 | 16:20 | 30.6 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| Jae’sean Tate | 34 | 8:26 am | 51.3 | 33.3 | 57.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| Jeff Green | 20 | 4:54 | 45.9 | 42.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| JD Davison | 25 | 7:22 | 38.9 | 28.6 | 55.6 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.2 |
| Isaiah Crawford | 7 | 6:43 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.4 |
2026-03-01 15:12:00
