Lucas family comes calling
MINNEAPOLS — The Rockets’ bus arrived at their Minneapolis hotel shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday. By 8:30, John Lucas was already calling his son, Timberwolves guard John Lucas III.
“I told him, we’re coming to kick butt,” Lucas said.
“I just started laughing,” said Lucas III, who was inactive on Saturday. “He called me early in the morning and was talking noise all day. It’s all love. It’s good to see him being back doing the thing he loves to do, being around the game. He’s enjoying it. I like seeing him back out there, passing on his knowledge.
Lucas III is in his ninth NBA season, but on Saturday he sat on the bench opposite of his father for the first time following his dad’s return to the NBA as the Rockets player development director.
“I’ve always been there to support him. I’ve never been on the other side,” Lucas said. “He’s been a ball boy for my team, never on opposite sides.”
Lucas also goes back several decades with Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau who was an assistant under Lucas and made sure to have Lucas III with him in Chicago and especially in Minnesota as an influence for his young team.
“I loved working for him,” Thibodeau said. “I had the opportunity to work for him in San Antonio and Philadelphia and we’ve remained friends for a long time. Obviously, I’m very close to the family. I have young John here with us. At some point, he’ll be a terrific coach. That’s the family business.
“Obviously, John was a great player in the league, a terrific coach, but more importantly, he’s a great person.
“He’s done a lot for a lot of people. He’s always been around the game, in the game. I’m glad it’s in Houston for him, too. It’s his home base, a coming home for him.”
Record pace a ‘good start’
When Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was leading the change in NBA offenses with the Suns, he said he wondered if he was overdoing it when the Suns took 25 3-pointers in a game. In his five seasons in Phoenix, the Suns went from averaging 14.7 3s attempted per game to a high of 25.6.
After taking an NBA record 61 3-pointers on Friday, the Rockets are averaging 38.5, on pace to set NBA records.
“That’s a good thing about being in Houston,” D’Antoni said, “They kind of like that and mathematics kind of says it’s OK, so we are kind of just pushing the envelope as far as we can go. I don’t know where that will end, but 61 is a good start.”
Told before Saturday’s game that the Target Center record for 3-pointers attempted was 40, D’Antoni joked, “Is that first half?
“We just try to make the right play,” D’Antoni said. “If you’re open, we’re taking it. If you’re not, we’re trying to get to the rim or get fouled. If a team takes away layups, every one will be a 3. If they take that away, every one will be layups.”
Capela’s play helping Harden
As much as is justifiably made of how the Rockets’ 3-point shooting creates spacing that opens lanes for James Harden, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said many of those 3s come from the obvious strength of Harden driving to the rim and the less conspicuous determination and “discipline” of center Clint Capela.
“His playmaking to the rim is leading to that,” Thibodeau said. “In the past, he shot it more or was drawing fouls. But he’s kicking it out. He’s forcing the defense to collapse and they’re getting open 3s from that.
“I watched the game (Friday) night. They were good shots. And I think Capela has done a really good job. He set a lot of high pick-and-rolls and he rolls hard to the rim. That requires a lot of discipline. It’s really an act of unselfishness. He’s screening and he’s rolling hard. Oftentimes, it’s a layup. To do that, to get the pressure on the rim, it’s a vital part of what they do and he does it every time. You can see he’s embraced that role for them.”
Jonathan Feigen