Rockets get career-high from Jalen Green in area they need the most

The Houston Rockets were synonymous with tanking for quite some time.

Losing games to maximize your lottery odds. It's a process - or, a Process - that fans are intimately familiar with. It's controversial. Some feel that it runs contrary to the spirit of the game. Others spend their season watching draft prospects so they can get excited for the summer.

However you feel about it, the Rockets weren't the first team to do it, and they won't be the last. The 76ers weren't the first, but The Process popularized the notion with modern fans. It was perhaps the largest-scale tanking procedure in the history of the NBA.

It seems as if they're doing it again. A rash of injuries has decimated the Sixers in 2024-25. Their upcoming first-round pick belongs to the Thunder with top-6 protection. The Sixers seem intent on doing whatever is necessary to preserve that pick.

Last night, the Rockets almost foiled their plans.

Rockets need overtime to beat tanking Sixers

This game was stressful from the beginning for a Rockets fan.

The team could not throw a pebble into the ocean. Meanwhile, the Sixers had equipped the net on their side of the floor with magnets. What else could explain how they were bombing threes?

Fine - the Rockets' lackadaisical defense was a factor. It was clear that they either had underestimated Philly, or they were daring them to shoot because the numbers dictated the strategy.

Either way, they changed course in the fourth quarter. Houston withstood a ferocious 46-point, 13-rebound performance from Quentin Grimes to win this game.

How did they do it?

Rockets led by surprising contribution

Above all else, Jalen Green's playmaking carried the day.

That's not a sentence Rockets fans are used to reading. Green has not developed a reputation for setting up teammates. Last night, he had as career-best 13 assists.

They could not have come at a more opportune time. Amen Thompson is still on the shelf. Ime Udoka opted to sit Alperen Sengun in the fourth quarter. He was getting exploited on the defensive end, and Udopka had seen enough.

Keeping him fresh for overtime paid off. Sengun was magnificent during the extra frame. Still, if Green's playmaking hadn't led the offense all night, that extra frame wouldn't have come.

Should the Rockets be concerned?

Rockets almost fell victim to trap game

Reminder: this is the NBA.

Every team is good. Any team can beat any other. Nobody should be taken lightly.

This had all the trappings of - well, a trap game. The Rockets should burn the tape, and move onto the next game.

They likely understand it will require a better effort to beat the Magic.