After the first loss in the 2K25 Summer League tournament, the Houston Rockets fall to the Pistons

LAS VEGAS — Whether it’s the regular season or a hot summer afternoon in Las Vegas, back-to-back games are always brutal for NBA players.

The Houston Rockets lost their first game of the 2K25 Summer League tournament, 87-73, to the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center on Monday night. The game marked Houston’s worst performance in Las Vegas in the previous two years.

The Rockets shot 29.4 percent from behind the arc as a team and missed 24 of their 34 three-point field goal attempts. Reed Sheppard attempted just two 3-pointers because of the Pistons’ physicality on defense. He finished the game with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting, 0-of-2 from three-point range, four rebounds and three steals in the loss.

“We came out pretty discouraged,” coach Garrett Jackson said. “We were discouraged from the start. Even early on, it looked like we weren’t playing well, and I looked up and saw it was a close game.

“They (the Pistons) did a really good job of blocking or breaking down blocks, but they did that even when it wasn’t just on the wings, but more in the middle of the court. And I think that bothered us a little bit. I don’t think we did a good job of attacking that.”

The Rockets were able to match Detroit’s physicality for a moment thanks to the production of Orlando Robinson. With 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Robinson played a vital role in Houston’s 64-63 lead entering the fourth quarter. However, the Pistons regained their defensive intensity, leading Detroit to outscore Houston 25-9 during the final period.

Daniss Jenkins led the way for the Pistons with 26 points on 6-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Former University of Houston prospect Marcus Sasser added 11 points, eight assists and a pair of steals in the win.

Despite the loss, AJ Griffin had his best game of the Summer League tournament. He added a team-high 18 points, five rebounds and a block. Nate Williams had a double-double of 14 points and 10 blocks in the loss.

Cam Whitmore struggles against the Pistons:

Reigning Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore had his worst performance in Las Vegas since the Rockets selected him 20th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. Whitmore scored five points on 1-of-15 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Whitmore’s poor play came 24 hours after one of his best performances in the Summer League against the Washington Wizards, where he erupted for 25 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists in the win.

“I would say it was a combination of dead legs; I also thought the ball didn’t move as well as it did in the other games,” Jackson said.

“One thing I was very insistent on was that if the ball is coming from one side of the court, you have to move it to the other side and do a second action, get to a third action. A lot of times when the ball was moving to the other side, it was being propelled back to where it came from, to a crowded side. So I’d like to see us play with more space and closer together.”

Until next time:

The Rockets will continue their Summer League tournament against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. CDT at the Thomas & Mack Center.