After missing 20 consecutive 3-pointers over a four-game span, Jabari Smith Jr. finally got one to fall — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
With just under three minutes left in a must-win game against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night, Amen Thompson caught a pass in the lane and swung it out to a wide-open Smith on the perimeter. Despite being in the midst of a brutal shooting slump, Smith rose and let it fly, putting his team up for good late in the fourth quarter.
After seeing his shot go through, Smith pointed to the heavens and reacted as if a weight was finally off his shoulders. Then, the floodgates opened up.
Jabari Smith Jr. catch & shoot 3, assisted by Amen Thompson. pic.twitter.com/MU7hO9M3JA
— Rockets Clips (@Rockets_Clips) January 14, 2026
After struggling to get any of his jumpers to fall over the last four games, Smith followed his clutch 3-pointer with a smooth 14-footer two possessions later and another 3-pointer that hit nothing but net on the next possession. He scored eight of his 18 points in the final three minutes of a win that ended the Rockets’ three-game losing streak.
“I was kind of putting the blame on me for the losses. I feel like if I step up and do my job we win the games,” Smith told reporters in Houston. “Everybody was staying on me and put the confidence in me. Everybody’s seen me make shots. Everybody’s seen me have a hot streak the same way I had the cold streak. It’s just remembering who I am and the work I put into this game.”
After going through a winless West Coast road trip last week, Tuesday’s win over Chicago wasn’t just what Smith needed to restore his confidence. It was the kind of win Houston needed as a team to recalibrate after appearing to lose some confidence amid ugly offensive stretches that have cost them in recent losses.
Once the Rockets started getting a little too close to the Play-In Tournament line, it was clear they needed to stack a few wins. But more importantly, they needed a win like this, where the complementary players got them across the finish line. As of late, finding any offense outside of Kevin Durant, Alperen Şengün and Thompson has been almost impossible.
But building up the confidence of Smith and other role players in the rotation might be more important than ever in the coming days as Houston prepares for one of the most important homestands of the season.
After Tuesday’s win, the Rockets have only played 14 home games this season, which is by far the fewest in the league. No other team has played fewer than 17 home games. So, in the coming weeks, Houston will have to play a lot of games in a short window to catch up with the rest of the NBA.
Part of that process began on Tuesday, when Houston tipped off the first of a pivotal five-game homestand, which will provide an even more detailed picture of where the Rockets stand among the elite in the West after going through some ups and downs over the past month.
On Thursday, the Rockets host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder before welcoming in Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves the following night. Then, the New Orleans Pelicans come to Houston on Sunday before the homestand wraps up with a game against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs next Tuesday.
That’s three of the top four teams in the Western Conference standings coming to Toyota Center over the next week.
By picking up a few wins at home against premium competition, the Rockets, despite some of their glaring flaws, will have an opportunity to re-establish themselves among the biggest threats to dethrone the Thunder as Western Conference champions.
If they come out of this five-game home stretch with four or more victories — or at least two wins against the Thunder/Wolves/Spurs trio — it will be a loud statement from a Rockets squad that’s still figuring out how to separate itself from the pack. Or a few losses at home against upper-echelon talent can force this team to look in the mirror and realize they aren’t as close to title contention as they thought.
There have been plenty of flashes that show how much of a nightmare matchup Houston can be, but the wins haven’t been there consistently enough. They’re only 10-10 over the last 20 games.
However, stacking up a few wins during this stretch of home games could flip the momentum and help Houston correct some of the issues that have cost it recently.
Among the issues that need to be addressed, the top of the list has to be execution late in the fourth quarter when games are close. They’ve looked unorganized in those situations much of the season.
They improved to 7-9 in games that were within three points in the final three minutes after Tuesday’s win over the Bulls, but there’s still major room to grow.
A crucial part of that growth has to be this team getting more comfortable knocking down open jumpers.
While 3-point shooting was never supposed to be the biggest strength of this team, this team’s inability to knock down outside jumpers has crippled the offense in the past few games.
Over the last six games, Houston has only converted on 51 of its 212 3-point attempts (24.1 percent). They’re the only team this season to go six straight games shooting below 30 percent from 3-point distance.
I don’t care how good you are at offensive rebounding; it’s tough to keep up against most teams when the outside shots won’t fall.
That lack of floor spacing has made it easier for teams to crowd Durant and take the ball out of his hands during crucial possessions, and it’s put additional pressure on Houston’s Big 3 (Durant, Şengün and Thompson) to score at an even higher rate to keep up with other teams.
The Rockets become a much more dangerous opponent when players like Smith, Reed Sheppard or Josh Okogie are making teams pay.
On that note, there’s one name fans should keep an eye on because he may become a much more prominent figure if his role increases in these next few games.
On Tuesday night, Rockets coach Ime Udoka gave fourth-year guard JD Davison his first real opportunity to play rotation minutes as the backup point guard and he performed well despite being a benchwarmer most of the season.
Against the Bulls, Davison played 25 minutes and accounted for nine points, seven rebounds and four assists. He’s a stocky guard who can knock down shots from the perimeter and organize the offense better than most during certain moments. But what impressed scouts on Tuesday was his willingness to get in the mix and make some of the dirty plays as a defender or another guy attacking the boards.
With Tari Eason still out due to a right ankle sprain, Houston needs more trustworthy options on the perimeter. If Davison can provide some reliable minutes alongside Sheppard and others, it may be the exact boost this team needs. They need somebody to provide some juice —or at least a 3-pointer or two.
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