Houston Rockets report card: Player grades from Wednesday’s loss at OKC

• Christian Wood (D): 10 points, 4-of-16 shooting (25.0%), 0-of-4 on 3-pointers, 2-of-6 on free throws (3.3%), 14 rebounds; plus/minus of -15 in 29 minutes
• Danuel House Jr. (F): 0 points, 0-of-5 shooting, 1 rebound, 1 assist, plus/minus of -3 in 13 minutes
• Garrison Matthews (C+): 7 points, 2-of-6 on 3-pointers (33.3%), 2 rebounds; plus/minus of -2 in 21 minutes
• Stephen Silas, head coach

Silas used 11 players in a game that never approached blowout territory; yet only six played 15 or more minutes. Starting House over Theis was a strategic move which backfired, with House going scoreless in the first half on five shots before leaving due to cramping. Mathews brought a spark on defense in his rotation debut and drew multiple charges, but for a 3-point specialist who had open looks, he needed to hit more.

Moreover, in an increasingly lost season that is primarily about developing younger players, Alperen Sengun only played 5 minutes and none in the second half. Going in, Houston’s rookie big man had averaged nearly 20 minutes per game. To dramatically cut the minutes of a first-round draft pick who many fans wanted to play more was a bizarre choice.

Rockets HC Stephen Silas spoke very highly of Daniel Theis tonight and I think he deserved it. With that being said. I can’t see any situation where Sengun only plays five minutes of a professional game. His skill set warrants him being on the floor. A LOT..#Sarge

— BIG SARGE MEDIA LLC (@BigSargeSportz) November 18, 2021

Generally speaking, Silas looked indecisive. Theis was removed from the starting lineup to match up with the smaller Thunder, yet he still finished with the usual frontcourt. So, what really changed? Players who logged first-half rotation minutes didn’t return in the second. David Nwaba started for House in the second half, yet he didn’t play in the first.

Finally, the elephant in the room is Christian Wood. He does continue to rebound at a higher rate, but on offense, the big man is a shell of what he was a season ago — and he isn’t executing like someone Houston expected to be its best returning player. Wood’s shooting percentage has dipped from 51.4% to 44.2%, his 3-point rate is down from 37.4% to 31.6%, and his free-throw accuracy has fallen from 63.1% to 51.6%.

Some of the decisions and rotation choices by Silas are curious, and many of Houston’s rotation pieces continue to be inconsistent, but that’s largely to be expected with a young coach and a young, rebuilding team. What the Rockets didn’t expect was the 26-year-old big man who was drawing All-Star consideration earlier this calendar year to return healthy, yet nowhere near the same caliber of player. To this point, that’s what has happened, and it’s hard to expect improvement in the team’s results until that changes. Outside of Wood, and with John Wall sitting out, the roster simply does not have enough talent to win most games.