D’Antoni expects Jazz to ‘be a little fired up’
When the Rockets faced the Jazz on Jan. 27 without James Harden, Russell Westbrook and then-starting center Clint Capela, playing the second half of a back-to-back, they stunningly ended Utah’s nine-game winning streak. But Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni speculated that the Jazz had taken the Rockets lightly.
He also expected the Jazz to remember that loss.
“I’m sure that the next time we see them, they’ll be a little fired up,” he said that night.
That rematch is Sunday, but D’Antoni said at this stage of the season, he expects every opponent to be ready.
“Every team in the Western Conference is out there fighting,” he said. “Every game is hard.”
He pointed to the Suns’ strong play Friday against the Rockets, again playing the second half of a back-to-back shorthanded
(with Russell Westbrook out and Eric Gordon limited to eight minutes because of a bruised left leg). The lesson from both games might have been that with an assumption that the Jazz will bring the energy they lacked in the teams’ last meeting, the Rockets will have to play with the urgency they were missing against the Suns.
“We got a lot of stuff we have to go through,” D’Antoni said. “We’re going to get Russ back. Hopefully, Eric (who is listed as questionable) will come back. If we’re going to play small and scrappy and all that on dead legs, that’s hard.”
With that in mind, James Harden said the goals are clear: “Get home, get our rest and let’s get it on.”
Utah gets second look at small-ball strategy
The Rockets’ full-time shift to small, floor-spacing lineups began with their recent game against the Jazz, which they won using a player taller than 6-foot-6 for just six struggling minutes. But that also makes the Jazz, Sunday’s opponent at Toyota Center, the first team to face the Rockets for a second time since the Rockets have gone entirely to small ball.
“It’s not testing; it’s how we play,” Rockets center P.J. Tucker said. “It’s what we’re doing. Our test is us playing how we play, doing what we do, and trying to win, trying to make the best of it, still learn things we can get better at, and I think that’s just going to be a constant throughout the rest of the season.”
The Jazz were among the teams quickly cited as a challenge for the undersized Rockets because of center Rudy Gobert, who is second in the NBA in rebounding. But Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said the small lineups can make up for a lack of size by forcing a greater focus on rebounding.
“We are just quicker, faster and I think we fight a little harder because we know we have to,” D’Antoni said. “If you are undersized, you better fight. Grabs their attention, and things we hadn’t done in the past like boxing out and all that, I think we are more aware of it. If we want to win, we do it.”
But after Friday’s loss, Rockets guard James Harden said the first step is getting back to full strength.
“Every game is a test for us,” Harden said. “It’s different when you don’t have Russ (Westbrook) and Eric (Gordon). That’s two of your main scorers. Not even
( just against) the Jazz. It’s every single game. It’s always harder when one of us don’t play.
Teams can scheme a little bit better.”