Trail Blazers head coach praises Yang Hansen again: He has been fighting hard to win, and I am very satisfied with the last two games.

On January 10th Beijing time, the Trail Blazers won 111-105 against the Rockets at home, completing a 13-point comeback, beating the same opponent twice within three days, and achieving a five-game winning streak. Yang Hansen played 13 minutes and 11 seconds, shooting 1 of 5 overall, 0 of 3 from beyond the arc, with 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, plus 1 turnover and 2 fouls. Despite the unimpressive numbers, Splitter praised his effort after the match. Previously, Splitter had also commended Yang Hansen's progress.

A reporter asked, “What do you think is the most important aspect Yang Hansen needs to learn and improve from these games? What are your expectations for his future?”

Splitter said, “I think Yang Hansen has been performing well recently; he keeps fighting and putting in effort. Some rookies get around 35 minutes per game when they enter the league, but sometimes that playing time doesn’t have much real value. Yang Hansen is fighting to win, often matched up against some of the strongest centers in the league. So, I am very pleased with his performance in the past two games.”

In this game, Yang Hansen engaged in intense battles multiple times with Adams. In the previous match, the scratches on his arm had already scabbed over. In this game, during a struggle with Adams, he was even sat on the head by his opponent but fortunately was not seriously hurt.

Perhaps Yang Hansen’s tenacity impressed the head coach. Even though his offensive performance in this game was not good, Splitter still gave him enough recognition. Lowry withdrew from this game due to a knee injury, and if he needs to be sidelined longer, Yang Hansen is likely to get more rotation minutes.

Regarding Lowry’s injury withdrawal, Splitter said, “He just felt unwell physically, it seemed like there was an issue with his leg, and it didn’t feel right. To be safe, we decided not to play him.”