In second Rockets season, Daishen Nix improving his NBA feel

LAS VEGAS – With just under 13 seconds left in Saturday’s intense fourth quarter, the Houston Rockets held a slim 87-86 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. As second-year guard Daishen Nix took the ball on the opposite side of the court, he faced tremendous pressure.

Behind him in the seats were regular-season teammates Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Alperen Sengun, and Jae’Sean Tate, waiting to see if Nix would make the right decision to help Houston secure the win. Nix also had pressure staring him in his face with 7-foot-1 rookie Chet Holmgren obstructing his view, making it difficult to inbound the ball.

This situation may have rattled Nix, last season, in one of the 24 games he played with the Rockets. But this is a different Nix, who is trying to show Houston’s coaching staff — and in particular, head coach Stephen Silas — that he is ready to take his game to the next level.

As he surveyed the floor, he realized that Josh Christopher had his defender in front of him and a clear path to the basket. Nix floated the ball over the outstretched Holmgren and led Christopher to the basket, where he finished with a layup to boost Houston’s lead to three points. The Rockets went on to win that summer league game, 90-88.

“Daishen is a lot of things, and number one, he is a very good basketball player,” said Rick Higgins, head coach of Houston’s summer league squad in Las Vegas. “If he believes he’s a very good basketball player, he can show it. There was some frustration and adversity in the first half in the last game (Orlando). That second half and the fourth quarter, I think he showed the player that he is.”

Nix, who went undrafted in 2021, finished the game with 16 points and six assists against the Thunder on efficient 6-of-9 shooting (66.7%), including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers (60%). He was all over the court in his 26 minutes of action, clearly becoming more involved in the offense and appearing more relaxed and comfortable as a floor leader.

“I adjusted a lot, especially from game one,” Nix said postgame. “In game two I played more, and I got the feel for it. Game one, I was trying to get the feel for everybody on the team, like Jabari (Smith Jr.) and Tari (Eason). As soon as I got the feel for them and what they do, I put them in the right position, they did what they did and we got the win.”

Getting a better feel for the NBA game is what the Rockets expect from Nix in the upcoming 2022-23 season. They would like to see the dynamic point guard who helped lead their G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Vipers, to the championship. In 18 games with RGV, he averaged 20.6 points and 7.6 assists per game on 47.9% shooting.

With Kevin Porter Jr. established as Houston’s starting point guard, Nix will compete with rookie TyTy Washington ⁠— who was drafted out of Kentucky at the No. 29 slot in the 2022 first round. The Rockets experimented on Saturday with having both in the game at the same time, which gave Houston an extra ball-handler and decision-maker.

It worked out well for Houston, as each player used the other’s strengths to help keep the Rockets within striking distance of the Thunder. Late in the game, with Houston trailing by one point, it was Nix who waved off Christopher to get the ball in the hands of Washington, who hit a seven-foot floater in the lane to give the Rockets the lead.

“His basketball IQ is very, very high,” Higgins said of Nix. “It’s decisions like those, if you pay attention to it and watch him, he is putting a lot of guys in position to be successful.”