Playing well, health take priority, but standings also count
CHICAGO — With the Western Conference standings tightening and the Jazz within 3½ games of the Rockets for third place, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said he does not necessarily use the standings for motivation but said his team knows and cares about where it stands.
“You try to get them going,” D’Antoni said. “They want to finish third. That’s their objective. But we also want to finish strong, get ready for the playoffs. That goes hand in hand. Can’t do one without the other.
“We have to worry about ourselves. We just have to get to the playoffs first. You try to be healthy and playing well. Then, you look at your seeds. Can you tell me the difference between second, third, fourth? Once you go in, you have to match up with that team. It would be nice to have homecourt advantage. It doesn’t mean the world. We’re going to try to get it, obviously.”
Bulls coach likes Rockets’ style
While the Rockets take more 3-pointers per game (40.4) than any team ever has, the Bulls attempt the fewest in the NBA this season (20.9). Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, however, had no objection to playing the Rockets’ style if it fit personnel.
“I love it,” he said. “To be able to be able to play that style, commit to it, build the team with the type of guys that fit with James (Harden).
“They have rim runners with (Clint) Capela, whoever plays backup between Nene and (Montrezl) Harrell, they do such a good job of drawing the defense in. Harden, you can’t stress enough how impressive it is. He seems to make the right play every time down the floor. It’s who they are and they’re sticking with it.”
Anderson says he feels better
Rockets forward Ryan Anderson, who missed Wednesday’s loss to the Jazz with back spasms, returned to the court Friday following several days of therapy since going out of Monday’s game in San Antonio.
“I’m feeling a whole lot better,” Anderson said. “Each day, it’s feeling more and more loose. There’s a spot that I feel a little pinch, but throughout the day, we’ve done a lot of treatment and working on it. Last night, I did some stuff. I could barely feel anything.”
Anderson, who averaged 13.8 points on 40.1 percent 3-point shooting before scoring 21 points Friday, has never had back spasms, but he knew as soon as it happened in Monday’s first half that he might not be able to play through it.
Wednesday’s game was the first this season Anderson has missed with an injury. He missed three games with the flu. He has played in 62 games this season and has not played more than 66 in a season since the 2012-13 season.
“This training staff is so great. I think it’s the best in the league,” Anderson said. “A lot of those injuries were fluke injuries. The injuries I’ve had in the past aren’t really controllable. It’s not like I have bad knees or something. It’s tough to hear that I’m an injury-prone guy when somebody says that because if you look at the past injuries, it’s because of little fluke things that happened in games. However, this training staff is great. This is my first little thing I felt all season.”
Another familiar foe for Capela
Rockets center Clint Capela went against a former French League teammate for a second consecutive game, with the Bulls playing Joffrey Lauvergne more in recent games. On Wednesday, Capela played against Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
“It’s always exciting,” Capela said of competing with players who were ahead of him in Paris. “I can show them where I am compared to then. Before, they were seeing me as a kid. They were already playing with the men. Now, we’re on the same court, playing against each other. It’s good going against them.
“I was with the young guys. I was 15. (Lauvergne) was with the pros when I was with the under 18 there. He’s always been working hard, working on his shot. He wasn’t a shooter at all. Now, he has 3-point range. He’s pretty tall and plays hard. That’s what he does.”