Michael Shapiro

And then buckle up for Sunday in San Antonio.

I think that's one that every kind of Hoops fan should circle on their calendar.

That's becoming a real rivalry.

The I-10 rivalry is back, so I'm fired up for that.

I also really liked what Kevin did late in the game, and I think it was an adjustment more from him than Ime Ujoka to go earlier in the shot clock.

We had talked, especially early in the year, about the Rockets being way too willing to wait for the double and play four on three when...

In a perfect world, it's KD getting those shots to put the game away.

And I thought there were a couple of possessions midway through the fourth quarter when the Rockets waited for the double.

It got stagnant.

Charlotte hit him with a 7-0 run to cut it from 11 to 4.

And then what flipped is KD started going a lot earlier in the shot clock.

He started showing some juice to get out in transition.

And basically, he made things happen before the Hornets could send that second defender.

And

There's some things Eme Odoka can do to prod the team and prod KD, you know, nudge them in that direction.

But a lot of it just comes down to, you know, players on the fly adjusting.

And I think, you know, KD showed a great feel for the game today.

But I think more than anything, you know, this was a game where it's just great to see the Rockets collectively play this hard.

You know, what had been masked with the poor shooting in January and the turnovers in February was that really since January 1st, they've been a good defensive team.

It's just the shooting and the turnovers have kept the wins from being as much as you would like.