The Houston Rockets have taken advantage of a soft stretch of schedule to win six straight games and climb back to second place in the Western Conference, just behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Texas team beat the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night thanks to Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr., who had 30 points apiece as the Rockets rallied for a 144-137 overtime win in an exciting game.
Houston continues to lead the league by a wide margin in offensive rebounding percentage (36.4%): one big example of that is the fact that they outscored the Dallas Mavericks by 27 second-chance points (29-2) on Friday night.
A lucky fan nails a shot worth $25K
Before the Houston Rockets could rally to victory against the Philadelphia 76ers, there was another highlight that got the crowd hyped up at the Toyota Center, and it had to do with a very hard shot taken by a fan who got lucky and also showed his skills.
The man took the court and drained the shot of a lifetime. He won $25,000 on his bank shot from the middle of the logo. The excitement got the best out of him and he ran to Clutch, the Rockets mascot, to hug him and lift him up as they both celebrated the money prize he won.
As if that wasn’t enough, a couple of minutes later a woman drilled the red fry promotion rewarding her with free Whataburger – a Texas chain – for a year. Talk about a lucky night for two Houston Rockets fans that will sure remember March the 17th, 2025, very well.
The Houston Rockets are on a roll
The Houston Rockets became the sixth team to surpass its win total from last season (41-41) on Friday. After taking the league average drop into account, they’re one of four teams – the Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers are the others – that have seen season-to-season improvement of at least one point per possession on both ends of the floor.
This is the second time the Rockets are 18 games above .500. The last time that happened (32-14), they lost six straight. But they still have three games left on a stretch of nine straight against teams with losing records.
Houston head coach Ime Udoka praised his team for fighting back, although he acknowledged the Rockets tend to play worse and get into holes against opponents with subpar records. “I think it’s just a human nature and natural letdown when some guys are missing,” he said.
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