After winning eight games in a row, the Houston Rockets are on a three game losing streak, suffering losses against the Nuggets, Clippers and Mavericks. Things like defense and poor 3-point shooting have been a problem, but the most glaring issue over the past three games and for most of the season has been the lack of production from Houston’s second unit.
In the loss against Denver, the Nuggets out scored Houston’s bench 32-21. The Clippers out scored the Rockets’ second unit 58-21. In Houston’s most recent loss, the Mavs’ second unit out scored the Rockets’ 28-11. That’s right, Houston’s bench scored just 11 total points against Dallas, and five of those points came from Chris Clemons and Isaiah Hartenstein in the last two minutes of the game after Mike D’Antoni cleared his bench.