Dillon "Vibes" Brooks 25% FG 10/3/1 Jalen "Vibes" Green 35% FG 15/3/1 Khaman "Vibes" Maluach 1:04 mins KD "team cancer" Durant 24/4/3 40% Fg, 55% 3 pt Anybody who still says the Rockets shouldnt have made the KD trade needs to be rookied. The Suns became good because of their new coach and Collin Gillespie and not due to the Vibes brothers.
He was hustling and played great defense. He took 13 threes for 38% so that overall FG isnt as bad as it looks.
There is still a big difference though from Jalen’s bad shooting nights. Since he took so many threes, his 18 shots led to 20 points which isn’t horrible. His TS% was over 50.
i still hate KD but one thing i love is when someone talks **** to him that fuels him to hoop. rockets were dead in the water before DB started talking ****. that is a hall of fame type of mentality. Harden didnt have that here IMO. the greats have that though. Funny enough, Bari has that in him. Ive seen Bari start hoopin when he gets disrespected. we saw it in the GSW game. ive seen it in the past before too.
The player combo is working. Holiday past 10 games has been great from 3. Past 7 games, the winning streak, 46.2% from 3 He hasn't been THE difference maker. But this team has sorely needed 3 point shooting, bench scoring & floor spacing
Amen Thompson has slowly and quietly been taking a bigger role for the Rockets. He was the best player on the court in the 4th quarter. Finished with 22/11/8 and more importantly was involved with everything going on offensively. Rockets duo of Smith/Sengun shot only 11/33 from the field and 5/14 from 3 with 6 turnovers (all by Sengun)… but did clean up on the boards with 25. The pace and tempo of the game was perfect for Sheppard but he only got 21 minutes where he shot 5/9 for 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. He probably should have played 35 minutes but the Rockets bench was playing well in the 4th quarter. Tari Eason was huge off the bench as well. Rockets dominated the Suns after the 1st quarter - out scoring them 97-67. Strong comeback win and Rockets also responded well to the physical play of Phoenix. Jabari can at times be beaten on plays, but his consistent and stable play is huge for a team with so many inconsistent players.
This is not the first Suns game I watched this season, and Dillon + Jalen do a lot of the same things that we disliked last season—only now I don’t have my Rockets-colored glasses to soften the negativity. Yes they were/are good vibes, but the vibes with KD have improved now and the ceiling is way higher This is gonna be my second time saying it but I honestly do feel like watching Jalen from a non biased perspective has really helped me escape from that cultish sort of positivity. He seems to be who he is, at this point. This is why I will never ever say that I was right in any way about Jalen because he absolutely did not pan out how a 2nd overall pick should’ve. Alas…wish him and DB the best, but wish for many Suns losses to the Rockets for years to come
