After Houston’s demoralizing loss in Memphis leading into the NBA’s 2024 All-Star break, head coach Ime Udoka told reporters that he was considering a starting lineup change. It was the fifth loss in six games for the Rockets (24-30), whose odds of a play-in tournament berth in the Western Conference have rapidly declined of late.
Houston trailed by 23 points early in the second quarter versus a Grizzlies team that had lost nine straight games going in, and Udoka cited a clear need to start games in a better fashion.
But it appears now is not the time for such a change.
At Wednesday’s practice coming out of the break, Udoka confirmed that the starting lineup will stay as-is, with Jalen Green sticking at shooting guard alongside Fred VanVleet at point guard (who is now back from injury). Here’s the reasoning Udoka told reporters:
Over the last 27 games… Dillon [Brooks] missed nine games, Fred missed the last five, Jabari [Smith Jr.] missed four. I want to get a look when we are more whole.
The ups and downs we had to start those games with different lineups, I felt like we played a lot better in the first 27 games [before those injuries] than the last 27.
We want to get back to that consistency, and we’ll get a look at our group going forward, as is… and see if we can get back to the consistency and competitiveness we had in the first set.
Houston went 15-12 in those first 27 games of the 2023-24 NBA season. Then, starting with a Dec. 26 home game versus Indiana in which Brooks strained his oblique, the Rockets went just 9-18 over the ensuing 27 games as they limped into the All-Star break.
Ime Udoka said he doesn’t have any changes planned for the starting lineup on Thursday in New Orleans.
Said he wants to see #Rockets initial starting five (VanVleet-Green-Brooks-Smith-Şengün) together healthy again before making any changes. pic.twitter.com/f24aPtK3M0
— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) February 21, 2024
It’s worth noting that Udoka didn’t specifically say before the break that Green was the starter whose lineup spot could be in jeopardy. However, he didn’t play in the final 18 minutes of that game due to poor performance, and with emerging rookie Amen Thompson losing his temporary starting spot due to VanVleet’s return, speculation swirled that Thompson might stay in the lineup at Green’s expense.
But Udoka isn’t ready to go there just yet, it seems.
