Being abandoned in the final quarter, the Rockets forward only scored 5 points. It is not as good as renewing Ethan. Durant made 8 mistakes and suffered a serious decline.

The Rockets have multiple twin star combinations this season, the twin towers of Adams and Shen Jing, and the two tall and long-armed forwards of Durant and Smith. However, the two players who have performed the most consistently and surprisingly are Okogie and Ethan. The two have very similar playing skills and styles. They are full of defensive and mental attributes. They are everywhere on the court. They are determined to make fast breaks and air cuts. Their three-pointers, which they are not good at, have also reached a new career high this season. In the game against the Spurs, in the tug-of-war in the second quarter, Ethan scored 5 points in a row, and Okogie counterattacked and completed a dunk.

The answer to the No. 1 position gradually became clear. Shepard performed well in this game. He was working hard to learn how to play the No. 1 position. In the second half of the second quarter, he led the team to open up the score. At this time, Uduka replaced him and replaced him with Amen Thompson. The team did not score for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Amen made two mistakes during this period. The team's play was not as reasonable as Shepard. Amen Thompson is suitable for chaotic battles. When he takes the ball and hits the inside, he has to stop the ball, which is basically a mistake.

Uduka has too much trust in the top five lineups. As long as the team is ahead and has room for error, it will try another lineup. In the second half, the Rockets were restricted by the Spurs. Wenbanyama recovered on both ends of the offense and defense, beating Uduka to the limit. At one point, they put on a five-small lineup and asked Jabari Smith to play center, either as a double tower or as a forward at the fifth position. The Rockets were not clear enough about who got the ball and who played. There was no continuous movement of the ball. Durant had no way to break the game when he was double-teamed.

Durant struggled in this game. His shooting percentage was low in the first half. In the second half, the Spurs double-teamed him. He hesitated to play the ball, passed the ball too casually, and made many mistakes. The Rockets were very much like the Suns last season. It is still an old problem of the team. There is no No. 1 position that can pass the ball, dribble the ball clearly, and tear apart the opponent's defense. The Rockets players are standing and playing. After Durant was double-teamed, the whole team did not step forward to respond. Almost every player made a mistake.

In this game, the Spurs set a pattern for other NBA teams to defend the Rockets, which is to defend the whole court and put pressure on the ball carrier. No matter Durant, Amen or Shen Jing, they have the ability to get rid of the defense. In addition, Uduka's lineup is not fixed, this trick has been tried and tested. Durant scored 24 points in this game, but only had 1 rebound and 2 assists. This was directly related to the fact that he was double-teamed. Almost all of his 8 turnovers were caused by passing the ball under pressure, and the decline was obvious. Amen Thompson made 3 of 12 shots in the game, including 2 of 4 three-pointers and only 1 of 8 two-pointers.

Amen Thompson cannot play the No. 1 position under a high-pressure defense. In the last quarter of the game, he was once attacked by Uduka. This is very rare. It is better not to have a defensive strong point on the outside, but also to open up space. Another forward of the Rockets, Jabari Smith, was even more completely abandoned in the final quarter. He didn't play for a minute. He made 2 of 6 shots and only got 5 points and 8 rebounds. If Smith renewed his contract in the offseason, it would be better to give this contract to Eason. He scored 11 points and hit 3 three-pointers in this game.