His mask could barely hold the smile of Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas on Monday night after a 117-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors that mercilessly ended a franchise-record 20-game losing streak.
The day before, Silas was visibly distraught after the Rockets’ 114-112 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Silas’ post-game press conference began with a question of whether the Rockets felt the weight of the lost streak. He stared down for a few seconds, head in his right hand, before murmuring softly, “Yes.”
Several current and former NBA coaches have reached out to Silas over the past 24 hours to encourage and connect with him with stories of their own long losing streaks. Those conversations helped pick up Silas’ ghosts, which took off as the final buzzer sounded Monday night at the Toyota Center and hugged freshman coach John Wall in Houston.
“It’s indescribable for a March victory of this crazy season,” said Silas. “I’m just so proud of the guys. If you like to go through it and fight so hard and you just see the disappointment in the players face after loss after loss after loss. Then to the locker room after today. game and everyone is just happy and upbeat, I mean it’s super cool and awesome.
“Yeah whatever, I was down and out yesterday. It seems like a week ago now. We’re regrouping, we’re getting together, and yeah, it feels a lot better, just because I know it feels great for the players. Like whatever for me, but I’m just so happy for those guys that they don’t have to hear about it and deal with it. ”
The Rockets’ last win before defeating the Raptors, who now own the NBA’s longest active losing streak after nine games, was February 4 at the Memphis Grizzlies. Houston had won seven of the eight games at the time, but star center Christian Wood severely sprained his ankle in that victory, sidelining him for the next 17 games.
Houston had several other major injuries during the lost streak, including guards Victor Oladipo, Eric Gordon and Wall missing long stretches. The Rockets also came to a mutual decision with forward PJ Tucker to part ways after choosing not to play in the first game after the All-Star hiatus and eventually trading him in for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Houston fielded the NBA at least eight players in some games during the streak.
The Rockets lost 12 consecutive double-digit games before Sunday – corresponding to the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves, spanning the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, for the most consecutive losses by 10 or more points, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“With 20 consecutive losses we have not been healthy, but that is no excuse as everyone has gone through health and safety protocols and injuries,” said Wall, who had a triple-double of 19 points, 11 rebound and 10 assist. . “We just went out and joined in no matter what was going on.”
The Rockets never relinquished control of the Raptors after late in the second quarter. Houston forward Danuel House Jr. hit a 51-foot shot to beat the half-court buzzer, pushing the Rockets’ lead to five points, a sign that the Rockets could finally take a break.
‘I was like,’ Whoa, well, maybe this is the night. Maybe, ” said Silas. “We’ve had games where we’ve only hit four three-pointers throughout the game. Now we’ve hit a half-court shot. It felt like something special could happen. For us is a special win after so many losses in a row.”
Not that it was easy for the Rockets the rest of the way. Houston built up a 13-point lead in the third quarter, but the Raptors ended the quarter with a 13-2 run to pull within two points. The Rockets surpassed the Raptors by a margin of 29-13 in the fourth quarter to put the losing streak to rest.
“It’s fucking time, man,” said Wood, who scored all of his 19 runs in the second half after running into trouble in an early mistake. “It’s about damn time.”