Ben DuBose

And I think Shingun just wanted to give it whatever he had to get them this win.

And they're coming home for Dallas on Saturday night and they'll reevaluate in the next 24 hours, I'm sure.

Tonight, they got the win.

That's what matters.

And when you have this version of Jabari and Reed that is able to make some shots, including threes, it does so much to space the floor.

I mean, we talk about the way the Spurs, and I do think, you know, some of the issues in the second half against the Spurs, people ask the question, why doesn't every team defend the Rockets the way the Spurs did with the five just sort of sagging off a men and defending the rim?

Well, every team doesn't have Victor Wimbanyama.

That strategy is a lot more effective when the guy that's sagging off and trying to hedge is 7'5", an athletic freak, maybe the biggest in the history of the NBA, and is able to recover in ways that most teams can't.

I do think to the larger point, this team does need more spacing.

And so when Jabari and Reed are able to make shots and space the floor, it does so much to let the big guns operate.

And even if Shingun couldn't tonight, KD could.

And against an undermanned Hawks team, it was enough.

I also think we should point out defensively, I believe 86 points was the lowest the Rockets have held an opponent to all year.

So this is a culture wet.

And that's what I keep going back to.

And I think there's a lot of positives to take in that regard.

There are some offensive questions that this team needs to resolve, but to hold any opponent to 86 points, especially on the road, I don't care if it's night two of a back-to-back, you're playing hard.

You're playing together.

I thought Clint Capella looked really good in his minutes with rebounding and rim protection.

I just think overall, if you're going to fix the Rockets this year to where they have any chance at all to make some noise and contend for a championship, you've got to get back to the formula from a year ago defensively.