Paul’s return normal to him
Natural instincts of playing the point take over after injury
Gliding around the perimeter, shouldering into the lane and whipping precision passes in two blowout wins in his return from nearly a month-long injury, Chris Paul laughed off the latest question about whether he will be fit at point guard for the Rockets’ breakneck offense.
“You haven’t watched me play a lot, huh?” he said with a grin Monday. “I only played one position: that position. It’s second nature.”
Paul has played in three games this season because of a bone bruise in his left knee, which he had suffered during the exhibition season. He made the small sample size sound inconsequential to understanding how the best point guard of his generation could miss a month and return seemingly without missing a beat.
“I don’t know what to expect, but I know how to play,” he said, with a chuckle. “They didn’t change the height of the goal or nothing like that.”
On Wednesday, the eve of Thanksgiving, a home crowd will be thankful to see Paul for the first time this season. The Rockets will play the Nuggets, who punch with more formidable offense than the Suns and Grizzlies, who lost to the Rockets by 26 and 22 points, respectively.
Paul, an eight-time All-Star playing for his third franchise in his 13th season, is excited for
his Toyota Center debut in Rocket red.
“The first home game of the year,” he said, referring to the Rockets’ win over the Mavericks on Oct. 21, “I think I had 20 family members in town, and I didn’t even get to play.”
He expects 40 or 50 family members to attend Wednesday, when coach Mike D’Antoni plans to increase Paul’s playing time to 28 minutes.
Worries alleviated
D’Antoni divulged his concerns that the 32-yearold point guard with nearly 30,000 minutes played might be rusty or winded in his return. Paul scored 11 points in 20-plus minutes against the Suns and a more efficient 17 points in 24-plus minutes against the Grizzlies
“Until he does it though, you worry about it,” D’Antoni said. “Pretty soon he’ll be back at full-speed. That’s only going to help us, make us better.”
The Rockets will enjoy the rare chance to practice with Paul during a fourgame homestand that finishes Nov. 29 against the Pacers.
“He’s was almost, like, thrown out there,” guard Eric Gordon said of the latest success. “For us to get a couple practices with this homestand should help.”
On the court together, Paul and James Harden have scored 59 points in 49 minutes and shot 47.5 percent.
D’Antoni particularly enjoyed Paul’s execution of the pick-and-roll with Harden on the weak side and, of course, Paul in “any scenario” where Harden rests on the bench.
D’Antoni credited Paul’s healthy month before the regular season for developing the on-court chemistry with his teammates displayed the last two games: “They fell right back into it.”
Forward Luc Mbah a Moute, who was out sick for the game in Phoenix, admired Paul’s orchestration on TV. For the Rockets’ second field goal, Paul hooked a pass across his body and the perimeter into Ryan Anderson’s shooting pocket for a slick 3-pointer.
“He did two or three of those,” Mbah a Moute said of Paul’s signature quick passes to Anderson.
Paul assisted on five of Anderson’s 3s.
“When you’ve got guys who can make those plays, it’s very important,” Mbah a Moute said. “It really helped Ryan. It opened it up for us. ….With Chris now healthy, and our whole team at full strength, it’s going to be really good.”
Paul pointed out the areas for improvement: “I had a few turnovers in that last game and I passed up probably a couple shots. Definitely can get my stamina better.”
Join the firing squad
The Rockets also want Paul to develop the team’s instinct to shoot early and often.
“Me and Luc talked about it,” said Paul, who had teamed on the Clippers for two seasons with Mbah a Moute. “Coach still is on Luc about taking open shots. James and Trevor (Ariza) are on me (to shoot) when I’m open. It’ll come with more time.”
Paul expects and is expected to run the offense well. But there is more. The Rockets imagine the possibilities of their fusillade when Paul enhances his instincts to fire his own shots more readily.
hunter.atkins@chron.com twitter.com/hunteratkins35