What a week it has been for the Houston Rockets. Monday, pictures of a maskless James Harden in a nightclub began to circulate. Tuesday those photographs were investigated by the NBA, and Wednesday it appeared Harden would be unavailable for the opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder that night. Things only went downhill from there for the Houston Rockets, when rookie Kenyon Martin Jr. tested positive for COVID-19. Hours later, Ben McLemore also tested positive. While indications are both are feeling fine, their positive tests sidelined, due to exposure, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Eric Gordon, and Mason Jones… Who’d have known the rookie hosting a “Barbershop for the Boys” at his apartment, where several of the aforementioned players got their gameday haircuts, maskless, could yield such a catastrophic result…
A result that included the postponement of the season opener. Houston did not have the NBA mandated minimum of eight healthy players to start the game. The six COVID related absences, Jame Harden needing to sit to abide by league protocol after his Monday night, and a Chris Clemons’ injury in the preseason left Houston with just seven.
Harden was eventually cleared, after testing negative several days in a row and having no known exposure at the club. The Houston Rockets called up the two-way player and former Truman State University Bulldog Brodric Thomas from their G-League affiliate and was able to play games by the weekend. Houston finished the week with a pair of losses, one in overtime in Portland and one in three-quarters of play in Denver. Here’s how the week breaks down:
Barbershop Quaran-tet
Harden provided the embarrassment, but the collective effort was what moved the game. Harden alone having to sit would not have sidelined the Rockets. McLemore alone wouldn’t have sidelined the Rockets. While it was the biggest hit, even the barbershop quartet wouldn’t have sidelined the Rockets on their own. The cumulative efforts of all aforementioned parties led to opening-night being postponed. Harden returned, and Brodric Thomas was called up, thus ending Houston’s hiatus… but the damage to the Rockets’ public image had been done.
Portland Game Positives – (L, 128-126 OT)
After hearing for six weeks that James Harden was done being a Rocket and that he was done with the city of Houston, it was nice to see The Beard drop 44 points on just 21 field goal attempts plus 17 assists. The shorthanded Rockets had five players log over 37 minutes, but Harden was the driving force to keep Houston in the game. For a guy who reportedly wants to leave the franchise to win, he was very clearly trying to win. While he may not be a Rocket next week, month, or season it is encouraging to see the effort on the floor hasn’t dropped off.
Christian Wood, one of the other players with big minutes, added in 31 points and 13 rebounds. His connection with Harden was clear, and his versatility creates a lot of matchup problems with both traditional bigs and undersized forwards. As he continues to grow comfortable in Stephen Silas’ offense, which has him playing outside the three-point line more than he ever has, it looks as if he will really blossom.
Jae’Sean Tate, who followed assistant coach Will Weaver from the NBL to the Houston Rockets, was the sparkplug that lit up Houston Sports Twitter the next day. Even with a short roster, the young swingman was the lone bench player to get over 20 minutes of action. He was +17 in 37 minutes, scored 13 points, and played tremendous defense along the perimeter. For a relative unknown, the former Buckeye will likely continue to be a strong part of the rotation moving forward.
Portland Game Problems
Wood was tremendous on offense, but the hole in the Houston defense was in its center. Wood got pushed around a lot by both Nurkic and Kanter, causing the defense to collapse to the middle. Thus, even though the issues were on the interior, Houston gave up a lot of outside shots.
Damian Lillard scored 32 points in 41 minutes Saturday night. In extrapolating Lillard’s points-per-36 minutes a year ago to the 41 minutes he played, he actually came in just below his average point total. The guy who played out of his mind? CJ McCollum.
McCollum had 44 points, including nine three-point baskets. What’s crazier about his 9/16 night from behind the arc? The average distance of a defender was less than three feet. That is to say, he was making contested threes at an alarming rate. This is not a trend because Houston is just two games into the season, but Houston needs to find ways to adjust and get the ball away from the hot hand. Leaving a guy open would be a sign of schematic issues, but not finding a way to adjust to a guy’s hot shooting night is just as dangerous.
Obviously, ending an overtime game on a turnover is heartbreaking. Ending it on one that featured James Harden looking for PJ Tucker in the corner, while Tucker was closer to the block, is almost poetic. Silas ran that set for Luka Doncic last season with Maxi Kleber and Kristaps Porzingis along the three-point line. Since Wood was in the same wing area Porzingis occupied, it’s safe to assume Tucker was supposed to be in the same corner Kleber was. However, with the time remaining and Harden’s hot hand, everyone can understand why Tucker was crashing the boards early. He wanted a shot at tying the game up with a tip-in, should a Harden floater go awry.
Yes, it was gutting. It was foreseeable. It was understandable. Pretty much par for the course with Houston in 2020.
Denver Game (L, 124 – 111) Positives
After a short rest and travel to the Mile High City, Houston showed sparks of resilience before ultimately running out of gas. The Wood and Harden connection was strong early (an alley-oop one minute into game action) and often (Wood was the recipient of half of Harden’s assists, even in limited playing time).
Further, Wood was four of five from behind the arc. If Wood has that in his game, Houston fans have a lot to be excited about. The Harden-era Rockets have longed for a six-foot-ten or taller center with a good jumpshot from long distance. Wood being that guy is a great thing for Houston.
Jae’Sean Tate’s energy continued, including a big dunk on Nikola Jokic. Sterling Brown appears to be a serviceable backup point guard. David Nwaba will be a part of the rotation for his defensive efforts. Each of the new additions has continued to live up to their hype.
Denver Game Problems – (L, 124 – 111)
The same defensive issues at the center of the defense led to a career type of night from Nikola Jokic. The Joker had 19 points, 18 assists, and 12 rebounds in just 34 minutes of play. What’s worse? It appeared as if, at some point in the third quarter, Jokic stopped trying to score. He didn’t attempt a shot in the second half. His only point was a free throw after a Bruno Caboclo foul put Houston over the limit. Even when it was around a 10-point difference, Jokic was playing a different kind of game.
Houston was the fodder for Jokic’s second triple-double in three games, and likely just one of many teams to give the big Serbian a highlight reel. In the Western Conference, Houston will face Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Having versatile bigs on your own team, like Wood and Cousins, is fun. Having trouble defending them is not.
That’s not to insinuate Stephen Silas doesn’t have an answer… but it is concerning that he served an “offensive-coordinator” type of role in Dallas, and now his team is having trouble defensively.
This could all be from a crazy 48-hours. Traveling to Portland last minute, playing a late overtime game, flying to Denver, and playing again on Monday night this early in the season may have taken its toll.
Something has taken a toll on starting small forward Danuel House. House averaged 12 points per game a year ago, and had just 3 points against the Nuggets. He had 11 against Portland but did not make a field goal after the first quarter.
This Week…
If all goes according to plan -not that it ever does- Houston should be back to full strength this week for a pair of home contests with the Kings before taking on Dallas Monday night. This sounds obvious, but it needs to be said: Houston will look a lot better with all of their parts. John Wall will start at point guard. Eric Gordon and Ben McLemore will open up the floor just by standing along the perimeter. DeMarcus Cousins will add some beef inside as well as alleviate the number of minutes Wood, PJ Tucker, and Jae’Sean Tate have had to play.
Further, the offense is designed around the one-five pick and roll/pop /short roll options. Having another dynamic pair to run that with Wall and Cousins will stress defenses the entirety of the game. Further, the preparation for a Wall/Cousins series is different from that of a Harden/Wood one, as is a Harden/Cousins from a Wall/Wood pair. All of the sudden, the defense Houston sees will have a lot more to think about.
Further, this will move some of Houston’s younger and developing players back to their normal developing roles. Brodric Thomas will get to go run up minutes and experience with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Bruno Caboclo can get back to working on his frame and get ready for more meaningful minutes later.
Houston is 0-2(-1?), but they’ve been having to play with a hand behind their back. In next week’s round-up, Houston could very easily be 3-2. Sacramento looks better than a year ago but is a very beatable team. Harden has been known to have career nights on New Year’s Eve. The Houston Rockets are at home all week. With no travel days, the games are relatively spaced out. Further, Houston’s legs can rest from Monday night to Thursday. Look for Houston to find their way to the win column ASAP
