Practice a benefit of schedule

On Monday, the Rockets settled in for their longest stay in Houston so far this season. Coach Mike D’Antoni wants to use it for fine-tuning in rare chances to practice and improving the team’s home-court advantage.

The Rockets are 9-1 on the road and 4-3 at Toyota Center.

“Obviously we’ve established ourselves on the road pretty good, but at home, we haven’t established anything,” D’Antoni said Monday. “That’s a goal, to get a good homestand, work on some stuff in practice and keep it going.”

The Rockets will play 11 of 14 games at Toyota Center before Christmas against the Thunder.

The extra practices can continue to enhance point guard Chris Paul’s cohesion with the offense.

“We haven’t practiced with Chris,” forward Luc Mbah a Moute said. “So we get a chance to really go in and clean up some stuff defensively and get better offensively.”

Paul, an eight-time All-Star, has been confident about reintegrating with the team after missing nearly a month because of a bone bruise in his left knee. He played well in two resounding victories last week. Still, he is looking forward to sharpening edges.

“Today and tomorrow will be two good days for us because it’s the first time we’ve practiced in a while,” Paul said.

After suggesting that seven games was not enough time to gauge home performance, D’Antoni suddenly, with a grin, changed his mind when asked why the Rockets have not competed better at home: “Because of small sample size.”

He did not dwell on the effect of fans moseying to Toyota Center, which typically has not felt fullthroated with support until the second quarter this season.

“Obviously I would love for everyone to be in their seats at 7 o’clock and us to have an unbelievable atmosphere,” he said. “In reality, we’ve gotta be professional and be ready. We will be.”

Defense now eyes top five

For much of his career, Mike D’Antoni absorbed a joke that in his last name, the “D” was silent because his teams lacked quality defense.

The 2017 Rockets are defying that reputation. They began Monday ranked eighth in defense, just 1.2 points per 100 possessions from becoming a top-five team defensively.

“There’s no reason we can’t be,” said D’Antoni, who had vocalized a desire that his team last season crack the top 10.

The addition of point guard Chris Paul and forwards Luc Mbah a Moute and P.J. Tucker appear to be changing the identity of a team consistently known for pouring, but not preventing, offense.

“That’s one of the reason we came here: to help them out defensively,” Mbah a Moute said. “Everybody already knows how good they are offensively.

“We can get top-five with the personnel that we have. We’re still not where we want to go. … We’re not satisfied. I’m definitely not satisfied.”

Anderson’s status uncertain

Ryan Anderson missed practice Monday because he was “not feeling well.”

Anderson will be reevaluated Tuesday to determine if he will play against the Nuggets on Wednesday.