Rookie Usman Garuba shines as G League’s Vipers stay unbeaten

At the NBA level, the Rockets (1-16) have lost 15 consecutive games and counting. But the short-term outlook is considerably brighter for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate.

After Monday’s 125-123 victory (box score) over the Mexico City Capitanes, the Vipers are now 5-0 on the 2021-22 G League season. One big reason is 6-foot-8 Rockets forward Usman Garuba, who was assigned there just last week. In 31 minutes, the 19-year-old rookie from Spain scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting (80.0%) and 2-of-2 on 3-pointers, and he also had 17 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

When combined with 23 points and 7 assists by rookie guard Daishen Nix, who is on a two-way contract with the Rockets, and 27 points by Trevelin Queen, the Vipers had just enough to edge out former Rockets forward Gary Clark (31 points, 4 steals) and the visiting Capitanes.

See below for highlights from Monday’s game. While it won’t reduce the sting of 15 straight NBA losses, the performances by Nix and the No. 23 overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft should offer hope to diehard fans that better days for the franchise are ahead.