Without Dwight
Howard being on the floor, the Houston
Rockets are trying different ways to win. Howard has been out of the lineup
for his 11th straight game after the 113-109 win to the Sacramento Kings.
“My legs are a little weak,” said Howard. “But I
want to say that is from the long flight here. Get a good workout in tonight
and hopefully try to play Saturday."
The 17-5 Rockets have gone 8-3 since their
starting big man has been out with knee soreness.
Injuries have been a problem for Houston all season
long starting with Patrick Beverley
at the beginning of the season. Francisco
Garcia and Isaiah Canaan have
been sidelined due to an ankle injury. Greek forward, Kostas Papanikolaou is listed Day-to-day with a knee injury and Terrence Jones is out indefinitely.
Without having all of their players, it’s hard to
tell how good the Rockets could actually be. With James Harden being the
primary option, he has emerged into the league’s leading scorer averaging 25.6
ppg. He is also fifth in the league in steals per game.
Harden showcased his skills last night with a 44
point performance with eight assists, three steals, and four rebounds. Ten of
his points came in overtime helping uplift the Rockets in a close victory against
the “Cousiningless” Kings.
The takeover skills that Harden produced is what Houston
need and could’ve used in last season playoffs against the Portland Trailblazers. The aggressiveness that the Rockets
displayed in the end of regulation rally is what should be expected more.
Living and dying by the three is what Houston rely
on and it looks good when everybody is on. The Rockets made 15-44 three
pointers shooting 34% from the field. There aren’t many other options the
Rockets have because of their injuries. When the Rockets decide to bring in
their small lineup, they’re mismatched with other teams. The Golden State Warriors exposed the
Rockets “small” lineup by beating them off the dribble and penetration on the
floor. Spacing them out, Houston had no rim protection in the paint.
In last night’s victory, Beverley contributed with
15 points and 10 boards with five assists. Ariza had 15 points on poor shooting
and Jason Terry hit 13 points coming off the bench. The Rockets had to go small
in the second half due to their big men being in foul trouble like Motiejunas. The Kings 22 turnovers
helped the Rockets comeback down the stretch with Harden hitting a clutch three
pointer in the 4th quarter with 20 seconds left.
When the Rockets finally get all of their players’
healthy, things will start to get clear on how good Houston can actually be. As
of now, we will see a “small” lineup that they like to rotate in and sometimes
go big to feed their low post scorers. Improving scoring off of points in the
paint is the area of improvement that should be focused on heading to Saturday’s
game against the Denver Nuggets.
