Step by step Usman Garouba is achieving his goal of settling into the Houston Rockets rotation. Thanks to the absences of Bruno Fernando and Jae’Sean Tate, the Spaniard has already played 7 consecutive games on the court, a very positive point given the young power forward’s conditions.
Garuba has yet to get a solid chance to play significant minutes, setting the range between 8 and 12 minutes. A very short time in which, nevertheless, he manages to leave good feelings on the Houston coaching staff.
An example of this was his performance in 109-101 loss to the LA Clippers on the night of November 2-3. The Castilian-Manchego were present in one way or another in the four quarters for a total of 12:25 on the floor. A reduced sample in which Garuba managed to make his mark: 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. Beyond the traditional numbers, the power forward, along with Tarry Eason and Dysen Nix, brought intensity and energy to the game. This explains why he was the one who received the best +/- balance at the end of the contest with +6.
✅ 6 points
✅ 6 bounces
✅ 2 robberies🤯 In less than 13 minutes
.@Usmangaruba he is the third youngest player in history to achieve these numbers pic.twitter.com/vhyncjy18V
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 Spain 🇪 (@sportingnewses) November 3, 2022
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The only negative point, the reason he could not play more, was the personal fouls he made (4), a symptom of his intensity in the game, but also that he is still inexperienced in the game.
With that duel against the Clippers, Garuba matched his season high in scoring (6), except it was the third youngest player in the NBA to go 6-6-2 in less than 13 minutes of action. The azudense consider the testimony of Paul Reed, DeJuan Blair and Jrue Holiday as the last to achieve something similar.
His start to the season could not have been better given his role and circumstances. In 12.1 minutes of action he is averaging 3.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals, which over 36 minutes translates to 9.8 points (62.5%), 16.2 rebounds and 3.0 steals.
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