ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Nuggets 12/15/2025

With respect, are you serious? There are always multiple options on ATOs. With shooters like KD, Reed, and big shot Bari, having ALP as the #1 option to get off a quick, contested three would be coaching malpractice.

 

Thank you for being level headed and putting things in good perspective. Such a young team being consistently competitive is a great sign.

 

Adam Silver should be embarrassed to be the commissioner of this joke of a league.

The NBA is like that married guy who comes home at 2am with glitter, lipstick & perfume on his body/clothes & his junk smells like kitty & tells his wife that he was just bowling with his buddies.

Fukk right on off.

 

Not only that. How can the refs contend that the minuscule amount of contact was the reason for THJ tripping and falling? THJ clearly (somehow) tripped himself planting his foot on the hardwood. He was already going down.

 

The refs can help you lose too - but overall, this game should not have been reduced to 1-2 possessions with Denver missing two starters. Between last night and opening night, Rockets needed one of those games, probably both. We are a Win Now team who appears can't. Sadly, the season may have truly ended before it started with FVV. Rockets best hope is to, at minimum, make the WCF, lose there, and use that experience next season to champ it. We also need to manage KD's minutes. Rockets should avoid pushing him beyond 33 min/game. This season really feels like a waste to be honest. THAT'S the first thought I had when FVV went down. Plus.... somehow.. someway.. OKC is *better* than their already record-setting season last year?!!! SMH

 

Maybe, but you make it sound like we never do pitch-backs to an unguarded inbounder.

We do.

I guarantee you, the pitch back is a practiced option, especially when the defense can foul before the shot for the win. It is almost impossible to do a non-shooting foul of a pitch back for 3. The fact the inbounder is a 3PT shooter to begin with should tell you he is an option vs certain defenses.

 

Eventually the Rockets will run out of time on the Amen/Sengun pairing. KD/Sengun are basically a walking turnover. This is the main reason why we lost. That duo combined for *9* turnovers. It's been a constant thing all season. Amen keeps freezing when he penetrates. Doesn't know what he wants to do and ends up shaving 10 seconds off the clock. Sengun takes some incredibly high difficulty shots that I don't particularly care for. Russ put up stats too. He averaged a triple double. Was not a winning player.

I'm more concerned about Sengun than most. I'm teetering on Amen this year but it's his 3rd year and he's learning to be a lead ball handler. His inability to make simple shots all of a sudden remind me of Sengun last year. I don't think this is going to sound crazy at this point but this team's success hinges almost entirely on Reed. He is the safety valve that unlocks everything. I feel the most comfortable with Reed taking a shot vs literally anyone else not named Durant. Jabari has also progressed a lot this year and made another clutch 3 down the stretch no one is talking about. 1/4 of the season in and I'm as confused about this team as I was when the season started. If not moreso.

 

What a game, keep in mind this is one of the first dozen of battles this team is seeing together.

Against a championship duo. This may have been conference semi finals preview once we're done

 

Our success does somewhat depend on Reed, but not for the reasons you stated. If Reed doesn’t perform our bench goes from a strength going into the season to a big weakness. Reed’s success is also dependent on Ime coming up with a way to get him some easier shots and possessions. Teams have wisened up and are brutalizing him all over the court. He hasn’t had a big scoring night since the November game against GSW and his FG% in December is less than 40%. His 3 pt% is around 39% which is fine, but on a lot less shots. Reed can shoot, but he is going to struggle mightily without some help with picks and plays run to spur his confidence and give him a chance without guys holding and shoving him every minute he is in the game.

 

it sure is malpractice.

 

I am not saying we don’t do it. I am saying, based on the way Jabari doesn’t immediately move in to a spot to shoot and Sengun grabbing the ball moving towards the 3 pt line, it doesn’t look like that was the play. Sengun had enough space to control the ball closer to the basket, and Jabari could have moved instantly inbounds. Neither happened. You can say that Jabari didn’t because Sengun clogged the space but he probably would have moved forward a little anyway, right away. So for me it comes to two possibilities:

- the play was exactly drawn to be executed like it happened
- it was Sengun’s call to make the decision to pass back to Bari or not

I lean into the first option because of the reasons I explained.

 

Completely agree - it just sometimes isn't executed in stressful situations. Guys that haven't been in this type of stress often sometimes freeze, or the moment is too big. We should improve in that respect, especially with guys like Sengun, Sheppard, Jabari and Amen being so young.

 

I am definitely not this pessimistic.

Last year we wouldn't have been in a position to win these types of games.

This year we are in position to win these games with a bunch of young players and Durant.

I am very encouraged - didn't look to me like Sheppard and Sengun and Amen and Jabari will shrink under pressure. Looks to me like they are figuring it out and just need more experience in the situations to be more effective.

They lost in OT, in a poorly officiated game on the road, against the best offensive player since MJ/Wilt - and that was with Sheppard starting like 1-9 from the field and Amen getting a silly non-foul called a foul to end regulation.

The Rockets went to OT against the Thunder too- and the Pistons are good.

This year the Rockets have lost to the Thunder once in OT, lost to the Nuggets twice (in OT and another by 3 points), the Pistons and Spurs..... only games that were clunkers was the Utah game and Dallas game.... and Dallas had just beat Denver.

This is a well coached team - especially for a team this young.

They are losing very close games to the best teams in the league.

 

Last call where Tim Hardaway tripped over his own feet was a joke.

 

Team has so much time to gel.

Amen has to make layups. He already can't shoot, but my god man.. missing multiple layups that should be made 99% of the time.

Second time you have played an elite team in the West and they have gotten bailed out at the end by FT's.... Total bummer, but this team is right where they need to be in December.

 

That last play didn't cost us this exasperating game. If the refs, our TOs, or our shooting had only been a little bit better... But we needed 3 points and had 6.8 seconds to get it. In that scenario, I'd replace Sengun with Adams on the court, surrounded by three point shooters. Run a play for Reed's cut-off-a-screen, quick-release 3; even if he misses, Adams has a shot at the rebound-- especially with both of Denver's bigs fouled out-- and kick-out to any of four decent three-ball shooters.

 

I'm not concerned about any of these guys, they're all really young and will improve. Sengun turned 23 like six months ago, some guys get drafted in the first round at that age (granted, it's rare these days). He is a definite all-star and probable All-NBA at this point. Maybe he will never find that "best player on a championship team" level, but we're not going to find a better player as young as he is to build around, and going after an already-declining player like Giannis would be folly.

I don't think we should have been in win-now mode yet in the first place, and I was only okay with the KD trade because the price was low enough that it probably doesn't matter too much either way, and I kind of wanted off of Jalen's contract anyway after his playoff stinkfest. I miss Dillon, but I didn't see him being a vital piece when Sengun, Amen, Jabari, and Reed are in their peak late 20s years, so I didn't mind him going in the deal either.

As far as Reed goes, I think people have gone from underrating him (including myself) to maybe overstating his importance a little bit. Undersized perimeter shotmakers are not that rare, and I just don't see the kind of elite court vision or defense that would really take him to an All-NBA level. Sure, if he's the next Steph Curry, or even Klay Thompson, that's one thing, but I'm not sure exactly what his jump shooting is going to turn out to be at this point. It might still just be "really good", not "best shooter in basketball (or close to it)". I think he can really help this franchise and I'm glad he's turned things around and looks to be a legitimately good player moving forward, but I don't think we should get too carried away at this point. I currently view him as being around the same level as Jabari, probably a really good roleplayer, still a chance at being a fringe all-star in his prime. He may have a little bit higher odds than Jabari does of the latter.

It's tough right now because it feels like we're squarely in that dark horse/fringe contender territory. We're just not quite as good as the best teams. But I'd argue that's to be expected with the majority of our team's minutes played coming from players under the age of 25. I think we're just going to have to be patient, hope for the best this season, but not expect a championship just because we brought in KD. I don't think we'll know exactly what the team needs this season, honestly. Too much player development left to do.

 

The Nuggets had Jokic/Murray - and it isn't like the Rockets had everyone either.

I don't think the Rockets really needed this game or the OKC game. It would be nice to have one of them, but the Rockets will have chances coming up and they showed they are capable of hanging with them. Also, keep in mind that the Nuggets best players are a lot more experienced than the Rockets are as a team.

As for this season being a waste - I don't think it is a waste, the Rockets younger players will get used to playing in more pressure packed games. Sheppard is very important for the Rockets, so FVV being out is both a blessing and a curse. I don't think that FVV is the difference between the Rockets beat or losing to the Thunder in a 7 game series.... for the Rockets to beat the Thunder in a series, they are going to need someone like Sheppard to go nuts.

 

I'm also glad Ime kept him in. That will pay dividend later in the season when he knows he won't get yanked for missing a few shots. We also need him to feel confident in crunch time. He's the best ball handler on the team right now and he needs to be on his A game when defenses start to tighten at the end of close games. The only way to get there is to let him learn now.