Moving forward: Short-handed Rockets defeat Pistons behind KJ Martin, Tari Eason

The Houston Rockets faced a mountain of adversity as they stepped inside the Little Caesars Arena to play the Detroit Pistons.

They knew for a while they would be without head coach Stephen Silas due to his attendance at a memorial service for his father, Paul Silas, who passed away approximately six weeks ago. It was also clear the Rockets would be without starting point guard Kevin Porter Jr., who suffered a foot injury earlier this month.

They were not, however, expecting to take the court without their two leading scorers, Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, however. Both were ruled out before the game, with Green suffering from a right calf contusion and Sengun sidelined by a non-COVID illness.

Down three starters and a coach would make even the NBA’s best teams wonder if they could win under those circumstances. Yet, the young Rockets, led by Eric Gordon’s season-high 24 points, rallied late in the fourth quarter to defeat Detroit, 117-114 (box score).

“Ninety-five percent of it was about effort and hustle,” said John Lucas II, who filled the head coach’s role in Silas’ absence.

Lucas could have been talking about the ferocity that Gordon played with, or the tenacity shown by Jabari Smith Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba throughout the game. In the back of his mind, though, all he could see was the consistent play displayed by young forwards KJ Martin and Tari Eason.

Eason’s strong early play helped the Rockets overcome some rough spots on Saturday. His 10 first-half points and 7 rebounds helped Houston take a 59-57 lead into halftime after trailing most of the way.

Eason finished with the third double-double of his career, collecting 16 points and 10 rebounds in Detroit. Eason has now scored 10-plus points in four of the last five games he has played.

“I know basketball is a game of runs,” Eason said postgame after defeating the Pistons. “All I needed was time and opportunity just to showcase what I could do. You can go one of two ways. You can give up or you can keep fighting. Tonight showed that a lot of guys in here, including myself, are going to keep fighting.”

“Keep fighting” also appeared to be the mantra that teammate Martin had stuck in his mind against the Pistons.

Starting his ninth straight game, Martin’s late-game heroics — along with 15 points and 13 rebounds — helped Houston (12-36) secure its second win in four games after a brutal 13-game losing streak.

For Martin, it was his second double-double in Houston’s last three games. During those nine starts, he is averaging 13.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 70.2% from the field.

With Houston trailing Detroit, 112-109, with 38.5 seconds left to play, Lucas seemingly called the perfect play for Martin. Knowing most of the focus would be on Gordon with the ball in his hands, Martin faked a screen and slipped to the basket, where Gordon hit him in stride. He was fouled at the rim as the shot fell.

Martin missed the free throw, but Tate retrieved the missed shot. After his shot attempt failed, Martin followed the ball for an easy putback, giving the Rockets a 113-112 lead.

“I felt like once we got stops and our offense got going, the game opened up,” Martin said in his on-court interview postgame.

Houston will now have three days off before taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.

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Story originally appeared on Rockets Wire