Capela relishes chance to battle idol
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Having had perhaps the best game of his career in a matchup with the star center of his draft class, the Rockets’ Clint Capela will move on to face the star center on his team after he was drafted.
Capela had a career-high 20 rebounds to go along with 16 points and four blocked shots in Wednesday’s 105-104 victory over Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
He will go from that performance to a meeting Friday night against Dwight Howard and the Charlotte Hornets, allowing Capela to see how far he’s come as he starts his fourth season.
“Every single game against Dwight is special for me,” Capela said. “It reminds me of my first days in Houston when I was looking up to him, looking at him as the superstar. I also watched him growing up. It always means a lot to me to play against him.”
Howard averaged 22 points and 19 rebounds against Capela and the Rockets last season, making 18 of 21 shots in a pair of Atlanta Hawks wins.
Capela, however, played well against Howard, averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds, with 22 points in the second meeting.
If Nene is out as expected, Capela could play roughly 30 minutes, as he did against Philadelphia when he was able to run the floor and wear down Embiid.
“Twenty rebounds, we’ll frame the box score,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He can do that every night. We’re trying to push him. Clint was good, real good.
“I thought (Embiid) got tired. We told (Capela) we need to run him every time. The only weapon we have is to run him, lean on him, make him work. I thought Tarik Black came in and put his body on him. It’s like a boxing match. Your legs get tired.”
The Rockets likely have a similar strategy against Howard, who is much better prepared to keep pace with Capela. Capela, however, was not at all surprised by his success against Embiid.
“I told you it was to prove to everybody and myself I can do it,” Capela said. “I’m a guy that watches a lot of video. I watch a lot of Embiid. I watch a lot of bigs. I want to be an expert on that. These kind of opportunities to show I can play with those guys is good.”