Rockets hoping to grow after following skid with streak
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HOUSTON (AP) During the Houston Rockets’ 15-game skid, coach Stephen Silas wasn’t too keen on getting out and about in the city.
After they got off the schneid by winning seven games in a row, things changed for the second-year coach.
”It’s exciting to walk around town and people will be like: `good job coach,”’ Silas said. ”There were some times where I just decided to stay home, and so I wouldn’t have to deal with (fans). So yeah, it’s a good feeling.”
The last victory in the winning streak came Wednesday when they took down a Brooklyn Nets team led by former Rocket James Harden with Kevin Durant sitting out to rest.
The 114-104 triumph made the Rockets (8-18) the first team in NBA history to have a 15-game slide and a seven-game winning streak in one season, much less back-to-back.
This year’s up-and-down performance comes after Houston sunk to the NBA’s worst record at 17-55 in the wake of the trade of Harden and most of the team’s other veterans last season.
The Rockets have lost their last two games after the winning streak, but Silas remains encouraged that his team is making progress.
”It means a lot that the message is getting through,” he said. ”We knew that we were going to have to grow this year and we’re doing that. We are growing and improving and it’s producing some wins, which is good as a coach.”
Perhaps most impressive about Houston’s winning streak was that all but one of the victories came without rookie Jalen Green. The second overall pick in the draft has missed the last eight games with a strained hamstring.
His absence has allowed some unlikely heroes to emerge in this stretch. Jae’Sean Tate scored a career-high 32 points in a 114-110 win over the Thunder and was a consistent contributor in the other wins.
But the most surprising star for the team in the streak was Garrison Mathews, who was signed to a two-way contract in October.
The third-year pro averaged more than 16 points in the seven wins behind hot 3-point shooting….
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Source : yahoo
