The Rockets frustrated Durant so much that he smashed a water bottle.

It was surprising to most that the Rockets got swept by the Trail Blazers. I was mainly interested in seeing Yang Hanson face off against Adams, but what stood out in the end was Durant furiously smashing a water bottle in frustration.

Both matches reached the final moments. In the first game, the Rockets performed decently, with Isom’s put-back buzzer-beater missing by a slight margin, making the result incredibly close. Today, Isom missed the second half due to an ankle injury, and the Rockets’ crucial plays at the end fell apart.

The Trail Blazers didn’t double-team Durant throughout the entire game; instead, they only applied the double team during critical moments when both sides were intensifying their efforts. This strategy left the Rockets’ other players unable to score.

Little Ja missed three consecutive three-pointers and committed a three-point foul on defense, after which Durant smashed the water bottle. Amen posed no threat from outside, missing his only three-point attempt with a rim-out, and even Shepherd missed a three-pointer in the closing moments.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Rockets led the Trail Blazers 90-77 by 13 points, but this advantage was squandered by the Rockets’ other players in less than four minutes. The Trail Blazers went on an 11-0 run while Little Ja Smith missed four straight shots.

The Rockets had no choice but to bring Durant back early, and he broke the deadlock with a basket. Throughout the fourth quarter, Little Ja shot a shocking 0-for-8, including a 0-for-7 from three-point range. Despite this, Udoka kept him on the court for the entire quarter. His three-point foul arguably decided the game’s outcome.

For the whole game, Little Ja shot 6-for-21 and 0-for-10 from beyond the arc, marking the worst performance of his career. In the final moments, among the five Rockets on the floor, Adams and Amen couldn’t shoot, Little Ja didn’t make a single shot, Shepherd—who had hit four threes earlier—lost his touch, and Durant, double-teamed, didn’t know who to pass to.

Since Shenjin’s injury, the Rockets have won only one of four games, relying on Durant’s buzzer-beater. In these four games, the Rockets averaged just 103 points, 15.9 points below their season average. Their three-point shooting was only 23.4%, with just 2 made threes out of 24 attempts from players other than Durant and Shepherd today.

Today, the Rockets’ team three-point shooting percentage was only 22.7%, their second-lowest this season. This is actually slightly better than their previous game against the Trail Blazers, where they shot just 22.2% from three.

Without VanVleet and Shenjin, the Rockets have almost lost all their offensive initiators. Their offense inevitably looks ugly, but it’s even more surprising that they rely almost solely on Durant, with no help from others.

Udoka said after the game: “You take a 37-year-old veteran off the court for two minutes, and a 13-point lead disappears, followed by an 11-0 run. We played without aggression or confidence, mentally weak. Relying so heavily on a 37-year-old veteran is a problem itself.” Little did he know another team depends on a 41-year-old veteran today.

The Rockets are currently sixth in the West, just 0.5 games ahead of the Suns in the play-in zone. Shenjin was heavily criticized by fans in the first half of the season, but this Rockets roster really needs him as a core to run the team. Now it’s a matter of when Shenjin will recover from injury.

In these two games, Yang Hanson played 16 and 13 minutes respectively, with ample playing time given by Spreit as a sign of trust. The first game marked Yang Hanson’s longest regular rotation minutes this season, where he scored 3 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and made 2 assists, shooting 1-for-4 overall and 1-for-3 from three.

Yang Hanson’s main role on the court was to guard Adams and maximize his physical advantage. Although Adams taught him a lesson in physicality, Yang Hanson also had moments where he held his own. By the end, Yang had two bloody scratches on his arm, showing he fulfilled Spreit’s assignment.

In today’s game, because Lowry couldn’t play in the second half, Yang Hanson received some playing time at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, but his performance was unsatisfactory. His positioning under the basket was genuinely outmatched by Adams, who often grabbed rebounds even when Yang was in front of him.

Yang Hanson shot 1-for-5 today, missed all three three-point attempts, and recorded 2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist. The single rebound he got was more of a lucky bounce rather than a contested board, which is a shortcoming. But considering he was matched up against Adams, it’s understandable that he struggled on the boards—just part of the learning curve.

Near the end of the fourth quarter, just before being substituted, Yang lost the ball to Shepherd during a pass, leading to a fast-break dunk—the worst play of his game. Yang played over five consecutive minutes in the fourth, showing that currently, five minutes of continuous play is his physical limit; beyond that, his turnover rate increases.

In recent games, Yang Hanson has consistently gotten playing time and scored, which is a positive sign. However, there are still many areas where he needs to improve on the court; he has a long road ahead.