Ime Udoka has been a part of an impressive rebuild for the Houston Rockets.
But in the games that count, he could be costing his team a chance at a playoff run.
The Rockets’ head coach made a wide variety of mistakes in game four. He challenged a clear foul by Dillon Brooks and cost Houston a timeout. He didn’t save a timeout for when they were down three with four seconds to play. But his worst error was when he had a chance to seize the game.
Udoka took his final timeout with about 12 seconds to play down by one point. The Rockets had plenty of time to run a set and needed one bucket to take the lead.
What would Udoka draw up in the timeout? Common logic says you switch your best player onto a mismatch and isolate them.
Udoka got one part right.
He called for Alperen Sengun, who ended with 31 points and 10 rebounds, to take the final shot. The only problem was that Sengun was being shadowed by former defensive player of the year, Draymond Green.
Rockets miss the potential game-winner pic.twitter.com/ffjSI0I0o7
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) April 29, 2025
The result, as many could’ve guessed, was Green playing stout defense and forcing a miss from Sengun.
The Rockets fell 109-106 and trail the series 3-1.
95% of teams in NBA history who lead 3-1 win the series.
Did Ime Udoka target Draymond Green?
Did Udoka mean to target Draymond? Or did he want a switch and it wasn’t executed on the floor?
Udoka made some comments earlier this season about the Warriors’ star that could be a joke laced with some truth.
Ime Udoka on how Amen Thompson stacks up this year in the Defensive Player of the Year race:
“Much better than Draymond.”
Long pause.
“That’s a joke. I love Draymond.” pic.twitter.com/kSWxb9egxc
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) April 6, 2025
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Draymond was named as a defensive player of the year finalist this year while Amen Thompson was not.
Udoka clarified that it was in jest, but maybe he feels Green doesn’t live up to his reputation.
Targeting Draymond in the final possession would show that Udoka has a pretty low perception of the four-time NBA champion.
If it was the Rockets’ coach’s intent to go after Green, it’s a massive mistake that cost them a game they had to have.