On Friday night, the Houston Rockets had a chance to extend their winning streak to nine games at the expense of the coldest team in the league in the Miami Heat, who have lost nine games in a row heading into their contest. In the end, while there were some nervous moments, the Rockets triumphed — with Fred VanVleet having one of his signature heaters to lead Houston to victory lane.
In a 102-98 win for the Rockets, VanVleet put up arguably his best game of the season. The 31-year-old guard tallied 37 points, three assists, and three steals on 13-17 shooting from the field (9-11 from beyond the arc), turning it around in a big way after struggling for the past month or two.
The last time VanVleet shot over 50 percent from the field was back on January 22, when he shot 8-15 from the field in a bonkers 109-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s nearly two months ago now; while VanVleet has missed 13 games since then with ankle problems, his shooting efficiency, which was never his strongest suit in the first place, has been far from good even with Houston playing good basketball as a collective as of late.
Perhaps this is a sign that VanVleet is figuring out his shooting stroke, and there might not be a better time for him to do so with less than a month to go before the playoffs begin. This hot streak from the Rockets has taken them all the way to second place in the Western Conference standings, and Houston will need more of this sort of performance from their lead guard moving forward if they were going to make it deep into the postseason.
Fred VanVleet comes to life for the Rockets as their main men struggle
Fred VanVleet may have many unsightly shooting nights, but there is no mistaking his impact for the Rockets. Houston has gone just 10-9 with him out due to injury; with him, they have gone 36-16.
On Friday night, Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green were far from being at their best. Sengun and Green shot tour dates, shooting 4-15 and 3-13 from the field, respectively, so VanVleet’s outburst could not have come at a better time for the surging Rockets.
It remains to be seen if the Rockets’ lack of shooting efficiency is going to haunt them in the playoffs. But if they can continue to outwork the opposition, which they did on Friday, winning the rebound battle against the Heat, then they will be a headache to face come playoff time.
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