Led by a barrage of 3-point shooting, Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat (21-15) cooled off the Rockets on Monday night as Houston (18-17) kicked off its six-game Eastern Conference road trip. The Rockets entered with three wins in their last four games, including a statement victory, Saturday’s upset of Milwaukee.
Herro led the Heat with an efficient 28 points in the 120-113 win (box score). He shot 10-of-20 overall and 5-of-10 on 3-pointers (50%).
As a team, Miami made 15-of-36 shots from 3-point range (41.7%). The Rockets countered by shooting a respectable 14-of-41 from distance (34.1%), though 10 of those makes came in the first half, which finished tied. As Houston’s shooting slipped, Miami built its lead.
It was another solid night for reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Alperen Sengun, who had a tough matchup versus physical Miami center Bam Adebayo and the notoriously disciplined defense of longtime coach Erik Spoelstra. Even so, Sengun finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting (60%). He had issues with foul trouble and fouled out late. He also committed three turnovers. The combination limited his minutes and effect on the game’s early stages.
On the other side, Adebayo was excellent with 21 points and 12 rebounds, making 9-of-12 shots (75.0%). Like Sengun, he also encountered some difficulty with four fouls over his 32 minutes.
Houston stayed within relative striking distance thanks to a hot-shooting night by Fred VanVleet, who had a team-high 32 points and 7 assists while making 7-of-14 from 3-point range (50.0%).
Outside of VanVleet and Sengun, it was a relatively cold-shooting night for the Rockets. Other players in double figures included:
- Jalen Green: 11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds; 2-of-10 shooting (20%), 2-of-8 on 3-pointers (25%), 5-of-6 on free throws (83.3%)
- Jabari Smith Jr.: 10 points, 6 rebounds; 3-of-12 shooting (25%), 1-of-4 on 3-pointers (25%)
- Cam Whitmore: 11 points, 6 rebounds in 17 minutes; 5-of-8 shooting (62.5%), 1-of-2 on 3-pointers (50%)
The Rockets were short-handed. Dillon Brooks (right oblique strain) and Tari Eason (left lower leg soreness) remained sidelined, while the Heat were without Jimmy Butler due to a foot injury.
Here’s our look at highlights and postgame interviews, along with reaction by media members and fans. Houston continues its road trip in Chicago (17-21) on Wednesday. The tip is at 7 p.m. Central.
Jan. 8 Rockets-Heat reaction
GG.
Fred VanVleet had his third 30 point game of the season, Sengun scored 22 efficiently, and the rookies impressed, but the Rockets didn't get many contributions from anyone else and their defense was lacking.
Annoying loss. Onto the next. Tari & Dillon WYA
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 9, 2024
Filthy move from Alperen Sengun pic.twitter.com/vz7ksniMNo
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 9, 2024
Cam Whitmore is inevitable.
— RedNinetyFour (@RedNinetyFour) January 9, 2024
FINAL: Heat 120, Rockets 113.
Fred VanVleet hit seven 3s and scored 32 points, but Houston's 3-point shooting dried up in the second half and the game got away from them.
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) January 9, 2024
Udoka on young #Rockets defensive growth… https://t.co/TSS8XyxfUL
— Chris A. White 🐻 (@fyrebear) January 8, 2024
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on Rockets center Alperen Sengun: “You can do a full-scale analysis just on his footwork.”
I might have to steal that idea.
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) January 8, 2024
Erik Spoelstra https://t.co/sOUO4vtMGj
— Chris A. White 🐻 (@fyrebear) January 9, 2024
More and more teams are going to do what Miami did and force the others to beat you, through 3 quarters Tate had as many shots as Alpi and that should never every happen under any circumstance
— Abel (@AbelGe87) January 9, 2024
Rockets have gotten destroyed by East teams on the road, the defense really falls off a cliff, credit to Spo for putting a game plan to exploit everything the Rockets try to do, took Alpi away to a degree and forced everyone else to make shots
— Abel (@AbelGe87) January 9, 2024
Fred VanVleet just put Bam Adebayo on skates 🥶 pic.twitter.com/8Y6SgqLlbx
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 9, 2024
One thing about the 2023-24 #Rockets, they keep pushing. They don't roll over, and that's the FVV leadership factor.
Felt like it was over when Miami pushed it to 14, but all of a sudden it's back down to 8 with 4:00 left. Unlikely, sure, but doable
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 9, 2024
Fred VanVleet is doing everything he can to try and win this game.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 9, 2024
Also on offense Tari's chaos energy and cutting would help and finding a mismatch for Dillon in the post https://t.co/1Kljxztomr
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 9, 2024
AMEN THOMPSON LOBS IT TO CAM WHITMORE 💪 pic.twitter.com/gmI4rY6WYm
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 9, 2024
Slam Whitmore, as @Jonathan_Feigen dubbed him, strikes again
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) January 9, 2024
👀CAM WHITMORE FROM FRED VANVLEET 👀#Rockets vs Heat@HoustonRockets on SCHN pic.twitter.com/JXw5QLpIx0
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) January 9, 2024
Shameless plug of today's Jabari Smith story, which feels relevant after that putback + 1 to tie the game at the buzzer.
Ime Udoka: "The offensive glass has been the biggest improvement for him. It’s that mentality of going after it every time." #Rockets https://t.co/73f2OSZQII
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 9, 2024
Cam Whitmore should be playing 20 plus minutes a game with Eason and Brooks out. 7 points in 8 minutes. Highest plus minus on the team
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) January 9, 2024
Cam Whitmore closing out the half with Alperen Sengun in foul trouble 👀
Ime Udoka showing more and more trust in him with each passing game.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 9, 2024
Death, taxes, and Tyler Herro against the #Rockets
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 9, 2024
Respectfully, the #Rockets lose this game by 35 if Fred VanVleet doesn’t play.
All the credit in the world goes to him tonight for Houston still being in this one.
— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) January 9, 2024
Miami are a serious™️ team and Houston is still a young improving team that is trying to be serious™️ and hasn't got there quite yet
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 9, 2024
Just hate Sengun trying to attack 1v1 at the elbow. So easy for a second defender to put their arm in and deflect the ball and the Heat are good at that.
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 9, 2024
Jalen is good against traps since they threw a load at him his first summer league. It's like the one thing I think he got way better at very quickly. Most teams don't trap him anymore since he's third option but this is a good opportunity for him
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 9, 2024
Just give this young core a couple years. #Rockets pic.twitter.com/7mn3Bbh2oH
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) January 9, 2024
Miami might not have the best defense in the NBA but they are probably best at junking up what you are most comfortable with. Houston is a very predictable offense all about Fred/Sengun pnr. This is a terrible matchup. Amen and Cam will inject something different.
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 9, 2024
This is awful news. Wishing Morant a full and speedy recovery.
THAT SAID, this also likely means one less team competing with the #Rockets for a West play-in spot. https://t.co/YVkRbM02Oy
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 9, 2024
Cam being able to attack closeouts and take advantage of being a 3pt threat by driving is huge, especially so early in his career
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 9, 2024
Erik Spoelstra on Alperen Şengün:
"He's a throwback. He's extremely skilled … You can do a full scale analysis on just his footwork. He's found a way to defend in their system, so they're able to take advantage of his offensive skill set."#Rockets
pic.twitter.com/dBidbV67Ul— 28🐐 (@iamsohappy28) January 8, 2024
VanVleet doing everything he can to keep this team in the game. I really appreciate his efforts. #Rockets
— Maya ♥️s 🚀🏀 (@RowdyMaya) January 9, 2024
Rockets go on a 10-2 run to tie the game up at the half consisting of an offensive rebound and putback by Cam Whitmore and 2 buckets by Jabari Smith Jr pic.twitter.com/J2Zme4Nuww
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) January 9, 2024
Bam Adebayo joins the Winner's Circle with @jeremytache to talk about the win over the Rockets tongiht! #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/g3zW8G09Oa
— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) January 9, 2024
Kevin love being great on both ends tonight. Didn’t see that coming
— Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) January 9, 2024
Jalen emerging as the rockets best intiator tonight, and it’s honestly because he has just made the simple play. Something everybody else has refused to do
— Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) January 9, 2024
He had opportunities to force the issue but elected not to.. part of being the best player is knowing that your team needs you to be you.. not the end of the world.. his team played bad because they were forced to play outside our offensive system .. Spo is the GOAT of coaches
— Apathetic (@ftank58) January 9, 2024
Heat’s ball pressure speeding the Rockets up. They are also rotating well to pack the paint once players drive
— Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) January 9, 2024
Got the 2nd foul on Bam just now because of the hang dribble. It’s really hard to guard him when doing it because it allows him to make multiple decisions including leveraging his incredible speed and athleticism in a unpredictable manner https://t.co/t16t4QsAYQ
— Madison Moore (@MadManLeaks) January 9, 2024
Let Ime Udoka continue to cook with Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore’s development.
Loving the progress that we’re seeing, and we’re watching rookies give meaningful minutes to a winning team. For those who don’t know, that’s not normal.
— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) January 9, 2024
Alperen Sengun went from being benched for Bruno Fernando to being the youngest Western Conference Player of the Week in team history in the span of a year. What an amazing redemption arc. Let's get to the All-Star game next. Thank you, Ime Udoka.
— RedNinetyFour (@RedNinetyFour) January 8, 2024
I absolutely envy the way the Miami Heat could pick up 5 random men off the street and put together a cohesive basketball team.
No Jimmy Butler, and they still clearly look like the better team tonight.
Hoping Ime Udoka can establish that type of culture in Houston.
— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) January 9, 2024
Jalen Green has several very impressive assists in the 2nd quarter where he created easy opportunities for teammates 👀 pic.twitter.com/RH27VktSF2
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) January 9, 2024
The Jalen Green- Alperen Sengun 2 man game had been working so well recently, and it's awesome to watch it blossom even against a good defense like the Heat's.
That was a great pick and roll being ran by Green there.
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 9, 2024
Jabari Smith Jr. is turning into a special talent defensively.
He’s locking up everyone and throwing up solid contests consistently.
Crazy to do at 6’11”.
— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) January 9, 2024
Impossible to survive poor shooting games from Jalen and Jabari along with Alpi being quiet, tying the game at halftime was fun. But that was fool's gold
— Abel (@AbelGe87) January 9, 2024
FVV and Sengun 54 points 19-34 rest of the starters 30 points 8-31 pic.twitter.com/YHvU6aQuVU
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) January 9, 2024
Those were the possessions that haunted me with Cam Whitmore.
I’m not asking him to make advanced reads, but he HAS to see Fred VanVleet wide open for three there.
— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) January 9, 2024
fred vanvleet tonight:
32 points
5 rebounds
7 assists
2 blocks
45% FG (10/22)
50% 3P (7/14)
100% FT (5/5)elite performance wasted in a loss
— jeff (@DedicationHoops) January 9, 2024
felt like sengun was quiet for most of this game and he still finished with 22 and 11 on 60/50/75 splits lol
— jeff (@DedicationHoops) January 9, 2024
#Rockets fall to the Heat 120-113
Cam Whitmore
17 MIN / 11 PTS / 5-8 FG / 6 REB@HoustonRockets road trip continues Wednesday in Chicago pic.twitter.com/ZXcNfg62gu— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) January 9, 2024
#Rockets lose the 1st game of their 6-game road trip to Miami 120-113
Fred VanVleet
32 PTS / 7 3'S / 7 AST / 5 REB / 2 BLK@HoustonRockets back in action Wednesday at Chicago pic.twitter.com/5o8JNUuiWm— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) January 9, 2024
