Glaring Rockets flaw on display in tight win against Bucks

Every Houston Rockets win counts.

At this point in the season, that holds especially true. The Rockets are jockeying for postseason positioning. The Western Conference is a gauntlet. As it stands. Houston are tied with the Lakers in terms of win percentage. If the season ended today, the Lakers would be the fourth seed, having won the season series.

The Rockets have a comfortable lead on the sixth seed. They'd still like to gain home-court advantage going into the postseason, and to do so, they need wins however they can find them.

So, Tuesday's win over the Bucks was meaningful.

That's not to say it was pretty.

Rockets gut out a difficult win against Bucks

The final tally was 100-97. That alone tells you how messy this one was. The end of the game can only accurately be described as "utter chaos".

Alperen Sengun whipped a brazen behind-the-back pass in transition with a three-point lead, resulting in a turnover. That nearly cost the Rockets the game. Tari Eason proceeded to foul Damian Lillard on a half-court heave. It was only counted for two free throws, but the game's result could have been altered if it had gone differently.

Although, Lillard missed one of those free throws anyway. That's another statistical improbability that saved the Rockets. Sure, plenty of Houston's guys performed well. Alperen Sengun had 23 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Green had 25 points and 8 boards.

Amen Thompson was quiet offensively, but his well-rounded 9 points 9 rebounds and 6 assists were helpful. However, he also committed a brutal flagrant foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo down the stretch that was also questionable. Perhaps it was unavoidable if Thompson was to prevent the easy dunk, but it did help paint a broader picture of the Rockets last night:

They need to improve their on-court awareness.

The Rockets are still feeling growing pains

Fair enough.

The Rockets are young. In summarizing this game's key players for the Rockets, it's impossible not to mention a handful of fourth-year players and a sophomore. Nobody should expect them to be the smartest team in the room.

That said, they need to improve in this facet of basketball. The Rockets need to sharpen their decision-making down the stretch. Sengun and Thompson are both players known for their high feel, but their collective inexperience showed in this contest.

It's not a massive deal for now. The Rockets will be happy to make a postseason appearance in 2024-25. Next year, they'll want to advance deeper. Barring a blockbuster trade, that will require this young core to tighten up their decision-making.

For now, they'll take the win.