Houston Rockets' Ime Udoka needs to trust his starters

Ime Udoka demands effort from his Houston Rockets.

It's an approach that's been successful during the 2024-25 season. Pick a Rocket. If he's not playing hard, he's not playing at all under Udoka's stewardship.

That's fine - but there are exceptions to every rule. At some point, putting your best players on the floor is a more optimal strategy than keeping your hardest-working guys out there. Sometimes, guys are working hard because they're simply not that good. It's great to give them an opportunity, but it should be limited.

That's the memo Udoka continuously misses.

Rockets' Udoka goes with third string in loss

Take the Rockets' 105-98 loss to the Warriors on Thursday.

This was an ugly game. The Rockets trailed by a more significant margin for most of the contest. To begin the fourth quarter, Udoka cleared the bench.

His second (and third) string players made a furious comeback. The Rockets cut the lead down to 2 with 7 minutes left. Perfect. Time to insert the starters, right?

...Right?

Wrong. Udoka stuck with the guys who got him there. Aaron Holiday went for a career-high 25 points in 37 minutes. Nate Williams finished with an unfathomable 11 points in 18 minutes of action. The Rockets lost.

That isn't a coincidence.

Rockets need to play their best guys

Nate Williams is not someone who should ever see 18 minutes in an NBA game.

Aaron Holiday is, but he's not someone who you'd put on the floor for 37. When the Rockets shaved the lead down, they needed to reinsert a fresher starting group.

The Rockets were on the wrong side of a back-to-back. Fatigue was surely an issue in this game. After some rest, the Rockets' starters would likely have been ready to carry the day.

Did they earn more time on a strict meritocratic basis? No. Jalen Green had 9 points on 3/10 shooting. Alperen Sengun had 10 points on 4/10 shooting. He added 13 rebounds and 4 assists, but he was also being consistently exploited on defense.

Amen Thompson had 4 points. He added 9 rebounds and 5 assists, but 5 turnovers as well. He was struggling to generate offense in the halfcourt.

None of which is the point. The Rockets' starters are starters for a reason. They've earned some benefit of the doubt based on their entire NBA body of work. If Ime Udoka doesn't trust them - even on a down night - the team needs new starters. The Rockets cannot rely on Holiday, Williams, and Jae'Sean Tate to win them a game with playoff-seeding implications.

If they do, we'll see more games like last night.