The Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to eight games with a 113-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at Toyota Center. Kevin Durant led Houston with 29 points, while the Rockets stayed in the hunt for better Western Conference playoff seeding.
After the game, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka pointed to the fourth quarter as the one stretch that nearly flipped the result. “Nine turnovers,” he said, explaining that Philadelphia’s pressure exposed a lack of composure late.
“We didn’t have any poise,” Udoka added. “We had five turnovers going into the fourth quarter and had nine in that quarter alone.”
Houston had controlled the game for most of the night, forcing turnovers early and turning them into easy offense. Udoka said that came from a clear defensive plan against Philadelphia’s primary creators.
“They got some guys we can help off of,” he said. “We understand George and Maxey are top five in ISOs in the league as a team and those guys wanted to show them a crowd the whole night.”
That approach worked for long stretches, especially when Houston was able to crowd the ball and force rushed decisions. Udoka said the team tried to stay aggressive on the perimeter and attack when the Sixers went into their moves.
“You go after it when they’re going into their move and it was successful,” he said.
Josh Okogie started for Houston and gave the Rockets an energy boost on the glass. Udoka praised that role by saying, “Energy, defense,” and noted that Okogie “had 10 rebounds through three quarters” before finishing with five offensive boards.
The Rockets also got needed support from Aaron Holiday and Tari Eason off the bench. Udoka said, “It’s great to have that spark,” and added that with Eason back, “Aaron providing that shooting and defense, it’s been good for us.”
Still, Udoka said Houston cannot depend on bailout shot-making when the game tightens. “You got to have some poise and get into our sets,” he said. “We have to be better at the end.”
That message extended to the team’s ball movement as well. Udoka said the Rockets have been winning by making “the right reads out of pick and rolls” and avoiding overreliance on isolation.
“More off ball, probably less ISO overall,” he said. “When you get it to guys in the pocket and have the numbers behind it, you’re going to get a lot of wide open shots.”
Houston improved to 51-29 and will host Minnesota on Friday night, while Philadelphia fell to 41-39 and continues its fight for postseason positioning.
