Proper balance thwarts defense
Ball movement, spreading wealth translate to wins
Balanced scoring is fun, even if fun is not the goal.
Everybody shoots. Everybody scores. Everybody goes home happy, assuming they collectively score more than the other team.
The Rockets’ objective is not about getting everybody shots before passing out orange slices. But when the Rockets’ scoring is somewhat balanced, as it was in Thursday’s 10795 win in Charlotte, they counter defenses geared to stop James Harden, foil game plans and, almost without exception, win.
The Rockets will not be impressed with an offensive output of 107 points. They average 114.2; 4.1 points behind Golden State for the league lead. But if teams are going to flood the lane to take away Harden’s drives and lobs to centers, ball movement and scoring around him can keep the Rockets’ offense rolling.
With each starter scoring in double figures Thursday, the Rockets now are 9-1 when all five score at least 10 points, losing only when they faded in Okla-
homa City in November.
But this is not a plan or an offensive goal. It is more of an indication of reading the defense correctly to get good shots and turn good shots into better ones.
“We just have to do the play,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “That’s what James is good at. Some nights he’ll score. Some nights Trevor (Ariza) will score or Ryan (Anderson) or whoever.
“I just think it’s a matter of reading the play. For everybody to get over 10, everybody has to be kind of hot at some point during the game. But if there’s good balance and the ball is moving, that’s good.”
Defense has a role
Harden had 30 points to lead the Rockets in scoring for the 43rd time this season. But other than a dominant third-quarter run, he did not have a strong offensive game. He did not have to because in addition to an improved defensive performance, the Rockets had enough scoring around him for Harden to find his shooting touch.
“I think it was a little bit of everything,” Ariza said. “It was a sign of us getting stops, us moving the ball, us playing a lot of pace and us being comfortable. There’s always better, always things you can improve on, but we did enough to win.”
Second in scoring, the Rockets are fourth in the league in assists and in assist percentage, getting assists on 63.1 percent of their field goals. That stays relatively constant in wins and losses with the offense built around the playmaking of Harden, the NBA assists leader at 11.3 per game. But they said when they execute best, they make the extra pass.
Harden leads the NBA with an average of 67.6 passes per game and in points produced from his scoring or off his assists, 56.4 per game (.4 shy of Nate Archibald’s NBA record). But while much of their offense begins with Harden, Thursday’s balanced scoring was a sign of making the most of the options built in to the offense.
“We were unselfish, moved the ball to the right guy,” Anderson said. “We had a lot of open shots. We were passing up a good shot for a great shot. We were watching that on film. Trevor had a good attempt at the rim, passes out to Pat (Beverley) for a wide-open 3. Just unselfish, fun basketball to play.
“We’re confident if we don’t make one shot we’ll make the next. We have a lot of different guys who can score the ball and shoot the ball. We’re confident in our shooters. We were just moving the ball, finding hitting the right man, hitting the weak side.”
Harden’s decisions
That begins with Harden’s decision-making, usually with one of his centers — Clint Capela, Nene or Montrezl Harrell — rolling to the rim. After that, they believe the ball will find the right shooter, or on some nights, all of them.
“James and Clint, Nene or Trez are kind of constant,” D’Antoni said. “If a team wants to take that away, the perimeters will score.
“If a team wants to stay on the perimeters, (Harden or one of the centers) will score. We shouldn’t have a problem scoring. We just don’t know who it will be.”