When the Houston Rockets last faced off against the Utah Jazz, it became clear that the Rockets were significantly lacking in one specific area. No, it’s not the size element that you’ve heard about from the national media at nauseam, as the small-ball experiment actually worked against Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
What was clearly evident in that game was that the Rockets lack a championship-level bench. The Rockets’ bench was outscored 47-13 in that game, which is a significant disparity.
Many people have chalked the disparity up to Jordan Clarkson going off to the tune of 30 points, which isn’t necessarily relevant considering the fact that the Rockets bench would have still been outscored even without Clarkson’s 30.