Challenges mount for Houston Rockets as they look to regain defensive form against Dallas Mavericks

NEW DELHI: The Houston Rockets, currently in their fourth three-game losing streak of the season, are facing defensive challenges that contradict their positive start to the campaign. The Rockets recently had their 11-game homecourt winning streak halted by the Atlanta Hawks, who shot 51.6 percent from the floor and made 17 3-pointers. During the skid, the Rockets' defensive performance has slipped, allowing 131.1 points per 100 possessions. Defensive rebounding has become a concern, with the Rockets ranking last in the league with a 60.5 percent defensive rebounding rate during the losing streak. Coach Ime Udoka emphasized the need to return to their defensive identity."We've got to continue to guard the way we have this year, and the last three games we haven't done that at all," Udoka said.Facing the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, the Rockets aim to rectify their defensive struggles and improve their rebounding performance.The Mavericks, on the other hand, suffered their third loss in four games against the Los Angeles Clippers, despite rallying from a 22-point deficit. Injuries have affected the Mavericks, with Kyrie Irving (heel), Maxi Kleber (toe), and Dereck Lively II (ankle) sidelined. The team experimented with a small-ball lineup in the recent game, featuring Derrick Jones Jr and Grant Williams at center, leading to a significant rally. Coach Jason Kidd expressed the intention to explore more small-ball lineups to maximize effectiveness."We haven't done it a lot; small sample size," Kidd said. "With the small-ball (lineup), we made them match up to us, and so that's a small victory getting a group to be able to change the game where they took out their bigs to match to us. Our next step is being able to play a little bit more with small-ball (lineups) and see if we can be effective."(With Reuters inputs)