Rockets’ Ime Udoka points finger at himself for shocking OT loss to ‘lesser’ Kings

The Houston Rockets have played well this season and are staying competitive in the talented Western Conference. On any given night, a team could beat you regardless of what their schedule is, and unfortunately, that’s what happened to the Rockets in their latest game against the Sacramento Kings.

The Kings came into the game with a 6-22 record, but they played like a better team than that on this specific day, especially without some of their top players. The game went into overtime, and the Rockets took a 125-124 loss.

After the game, head coach Ime Udoka shared his thoughts about the loss, and he seemed to take a dig at the Kings in the process.

“We didn’t really deserve to win that… I gotta do a better job of getting them motivated in games against lesser opponents,” Udoka said via Law Murray of The Athletic.

If the Kings had heard that answer, they definitely would have taken that as a slight. In hindsight, the Rockets have been playing better than the Kings this season, and they are also near the bottom of the West standings. At the same time, Udoka probably shouldn’t have called them a lesser team on the record.

The one issue that the Rockets have had this season is finishing games. Eight of their nine losses have come in the clutch, which is not good for the talent they have on the team. Though they’re still 30 games into the season, they could still be trying to figure out how to execute late in the stretch. Kevin Durant could feel like he needs the ball in late-game situations, and his resume shows that’s the right play.

Alperen Sengun has taken a step in his game, and he may want the ball late in the game as well. Adding on to that, the Rockets don’t have a true point guard to set them up in these types of game situations.

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