Amen Thompson and the Houston Rockets continue to show their defensive worth

The Houston Rockets are now 7-1 on the season after beating a solid team in the Boston Celtics. Deep diving into the Rockets, the only reason they are not 8-0 right now is because the Dallas Mavericks had Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving score 33 and 35 points in what was only a five-point loss. My point is that this is a very competent team, and it continued to show tonight.

The defense came to play!

After that frustrating defensive performance in the NBA Cup, Houston needed a game like this against a healthy team. Amen Thompson was a huge part of why a player like Jayson Tatum was neutralized in this matchup. You cannot praise Thompson though without praising players like Tari Eason and Marcus Smart; this team effort was key in the win.

While it was the first game of the season, and that usually is not the best version of a player, Thompson’s twin brother Ausar Thompson also had Tatum struggling. Let’s take a look at the matchups:

Ausar and the Pistons on Tatum: 6-for-23 field goals and 0-for-7 from the three (13 points)

Amen and the Rockets on Tatum: 5-for-16 field goals and 1-for-7 from the three (19 points)

Do these brothers know something that we do not? Tatum has had moments so far when he has looked like the top dog, but these two must have felt differently.

The Celtics will live and die by Tatum

If anyone knows Celtics players, spending most of my life in Massachusetts can attest to that. Tatum is going to have games where he just shoots himself out of matchups. This is not a discredit to the Rockets' defensive plan; they knew how to exploit this weakness in Tatum’s game.

Another thing is that Marcus Smart knows Tatum well, and despite Smart’s lackluster scoring night his impact was still felt on the court. Amen’s defense alone is making him look worth the contract extension he received and with how well-rounded the scoring output has been, we get to see everyone’s strengths and weaknesses productively. The sky's the limit.

Head Coach Ime Udoka still has a lot of work to do with this unit. Can they maintain this chemistry through the regular season? The playoffs? There are still so many games left, but this team looks drastically different than last year.

Now the real question is: how does one obtain both of the Thompson twins?

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