Capela tries to expand offense even at a risk to his percentage
LOS ANGELES — Rockets center Clint Capela lost his NBA lead in field-goal percentage, but in a way he said that can be considered a good sign.
Capela has sought opportunities to face up and drive, rather than just catch and finish lobs. That will hurt his percentage but can help the Rockets’ offense overall.
“It’s something I don’t really focus about,” Capela said. “I can get easy baskets. I’m trying to be aggressive when I get the ball to attack the basket. Guys like (KarlAnthony) Towns and (Joel) Embiid, they don’t have the best field-goal percentage because they are always aggressive. For me, it’s not a goal to be first; it’s to be aggressive when I have the ball and do what I do.”
Capela got off to a rough start against the Lakers on Sunday, making one of his first five shots against the Lakers’ size inside. He made his final two attempts, including one in which he battled Kyle Kuzma and Julius Randle for an offensive rebound and finished a strong drive.
“That’s the mindset I want to have,” Capela said. “When I grab an offensive rebound, I want to stay aggressive, go to the rim, go through the contact to be able to finish. I want to have the mindset to be aggressive and not just wait for easy baskets.”
Capela scored 20 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career before totaling eight points against the Lakers. He is making 66.1 percent of his shots, averaging a career high 13.5 points.
Coach Mike D’Antoni was unconcerned with Capela’s early struggles against the size of the Lakers’ Brook Lopez, even heading into Thursday’s game against Utah’s 7-1 Rudy Gobert ,butitisa reminder that Capela has to use his quickness.
“I just didn’t think he had the right energy,” D’Antoni said. “I don’t worry about Clint going against anybody. Some games are bad, some games are good. He can control his destiny. For whatever reason, the energy was not right there. But he is really, really good. I don’t look at the matchups.”
Anderson’s back much improved
The Rockets listed forward Ryan Anderson as questionable to play against the Utah Jazz on Thursday, with his availability to be determined by how the tightness in his lower back responds to two practices since he left Sunday’s game.
But Anderson has improved so much since his back “locked up” that he was cleared to practice Tuesday at UCLA.
“It’s feeling a lot better,” said Anderson, who had a neck injury in the 2013-14 season, but has not had issues with his back. ‘It’s a little tight, but we went in the training room and loosened it up.
“It’s a long season. We have so many guys that can play. We’re playing at a high level, we’re confident with whoever is on the court. We’re not taking a lot of risks. That’s been the mentality. The other night, it was pretty locked up. It felt pretty terrible, but if it was a playoff situation, I might have tried to force it. It was better for me to not be out there last game.”
Anderson had averaged 17.2 points on 56 percent shooting in the five games prior to Sunday, but went one of five in 12 minutes against the Lakers.
Coach counts on veterans to focus
When the Rockets head to Salt Lake City after Wednesday’s practice at UCLA, they will have spent six days in Los Angeles to play one game, a break in the schedule that could distract as much as break rhythm.
Coach Mike D’Antoni instinctively worried, but he also thought his team would not lose sight of its goals.
“It makes it a little bit easier that we have a bunch of veterans,” D’Antoni said. “They’ve been through it. As a coach, you worry about them getting distracted and not getting focused. We have one step down, against the Lakers. Now, we have another big step, against Utah. Let’s see if we can get focused by the time we get to Utah.”
The Rockets topped the Jazz 137-110 at the Toyota Center this season but lost both games in Salt Lake City last season.