Lu Dort’s Late Block Of John Wall Pushed Houston’s Losing Streak To 20 Games

The Houston Rockets entered Sunday afternoon’s game with the Oklahoma City Thunder riding an active 19-game losing streak, as they have quickly careened to the bottom of the NBA standings. However, with Christian Wood back in the lineup, the Rockets are more competitive and on Sunday they had a chance to snap their skid.

The Rockets and Thunder traded leads late, with Houston leading 110-109 and then tying the game at 111 with two minutes to go. From there, neither team could do much offensively, with the Thunder getting one more two-point bucket and John Wall splitting a pair of free throws with a minute to play to make it 113-112. That was the score that remained with 10 seconds on the clock as Wall drove by Luguentz Dort with what looked like an open layup for the lead and, possibly, the win. However, Wall chose to try and lay it up over the front of the rim rather than going to the glass, and Dort took that opportunity to make a sensational, game-saving block.

Aleksej Pokusevski would split two free throws on the other end and a Wall game-winning three would go begging as OKC continues to pick up wins despite a roster actively built for the future, while the Rockets losing streak runs to 20 games.

After the game, the emotions of this losing streak and how it’s wearing on the Rockets was evident on coach Stephen Silas, who was visibly dejected and struggling to find the words after yet another gutting loss.

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like being Silas, having been hired to guide a team that figured to be in transition somewhat, but quickly became a full-on rebuild without a lot of assets. He’s a coach that’s waited for this opportunity to be a head coach, and after finally getting that chance he’s been left with a team that is depleted and, right now, can’t really see the light at the end of the tunnel.