D’Antoni remains unable to nail down date for Paul’s return to practice court
ATLANTA — Coach Mike D’Antoni stuck with his estimate guard Chris Paul would be out about two more weeks, though he added Friday that his guess included days on the practice court once Paul is cleared to return from his bruised left knee.
His progress once he is permitted to move to that stage of his rehab will provide a more definitive timetable than D’Antoni’s estimates this week.
“I hope tomorrow, but it’s not going to be,” D’Antoni said. “Ballpark, two weeks, something like that. That makes it five all together so that’s about right. We’re going to be cautious with him so it could stretch a couple more days; it could be a little bit earlier. As soon as he gets on the court and starts practicing, we’ll know a little bit more.”
Second unit has a different feel
As difficult as it might be to prepare for the Rockets’ offense given the lack of set plays, it might be more difficult while the second unit runs a different offense than the starters.
The Rockets are pointguard dominant to start and finish each half and each game, with James Harden running pickand-roll. The plan was to have Chris Paul similarly run the offense with the second unit. With Paul out, the Rockets have played with Luc Mbah a Moute and Eric Gordon in the second-team backcourt with that group moving without the ball and using dribble handoffs rather than pick-androll offense.
“The second group, we call it ‘playground.’ We want to get into actions like backdoor cuts, dribble handoffs, work the defense,” forward Ryan Anderson said. “The first group, we do a ton of pickand-rolls with James. He makes a ton of plays. It’s for the most part staying spread and Clint (Capela) and James going into pick-and-roll or myself and James. With the other (group), it’s obviously very different.”
Gordon and Anderson have played with the starters and the backups, leaving the game about six minutes into each half and returning to start the second and fourth quarters.
“It is (a different offense) because you have one of the greatest pickand-roll guys ever and then trying to do it without a pure point guard,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We try to make it happen in transition and with defense.
“And I think they’re getting used to playing together.”
Capela’s offense rounds into form
Center Clint Capela was unaware of his place on top of one of the NBA’s statistical categories.
“I didn’t know that,” Capela said when he was told he leads the NBA, making 70.7 percent of his attempts going into Friday’s game. “Really?
Capela also led the NBA in rebounding percentage and defensive rebounding percentage, helping the Rockets to lead the NBA in rebounding percentage. He went into Friday’s game averaging 13.3 points and 11.4 rebounds, both career highs with Capela also averaging his career bests per minute.
“Every time on fast breaks, or when James (Harden) throws me lobs, I try to finish hard every single time,” said Capela, who was 5-for-9 from the field for 12 points with six rebounds against the Hawks on Friday. “I’m just doing my best on that. If I’m first with that, I’m happy. Just going to try to stay consistent. A lot of times, even when I miss, I try to be relentless and go after it.”Coach Mike D’Antoni said Capela’s improvement from the free-throw line, from 17.4 percent as a rookie to 77.8 percent this season, has made him assertive inside. Capela was 2-for-2 from the line Friday.
“He’s good,” D’Antoni said of Capela’s finishing. “He’s got stuff you can’t teach, body control. He has a unique ability to catch and finish.”