Anderson struggles to find playing time after injury
Since returning from his sprained left ankle, Rockets forward Ryan Anderson has had a limited and somewhat different role than before he was hurt. That has not been entirely about Anderson.
Before his injury April 3 against the Trail Blazers, Anderson had been largely playing center as Clint Capela’s primary backup. While working Anderson back into the rotation, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has generally played Anderson at his original power forward spot, in part to give Nene minutes off the bench against Timberwolves All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
“Numbers point out probably he’s more effective when he’s matched up with Clint instead of at the five, but there will be opportunities we will go to (Anderson at) a five,” D’Antoni said. “Right now, Nene is playing pretty well and we like the match up with Nene on KAT.”
During the season when the Rockets went to small lineups, Anderson or P.J. Tucker often played center. Against the Timberwolves, they more often kept a center on the floor and went with two wings, leaving fewer minutes for Anderson. There could be even fewer minutes to go around when Luc Mbah a Moute returns from a dislocated shoulder and works his way into shape.
"His minutes will be dictated on making shots and how others guys are playing and how the matchups are,” D'Antoni said. "When (it's) his time to go in, they've gone small so we've got to go small. So that just limits his touches and limits his minutes.”
Anderson missed the final four regular-season games and first two games of the postseason before returning to play 18 minutes in Game 3, 17 in Game 4 and 10 in Game 5 on Wednesday.
“Obviously it takes a little time,” Anderson said. “I feel good. I feel like I can move pretty well. My ankle feels strong. I think this happened at a good time because we have a lot of basketball left."
Nene’s toughness adds to minutes
Though Nene played sporadically down the stretch of the season, held out entirely in eight of the final 13 games, he has received consistent playing time in the postseason, averaging 11.7 minutes in the first five games of the playoffs.
This was, depending on matchups, always in mind for when the Rockets reached the postseason.
“Just being physical, just being Nene,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He gives us an element of toughness in there. I thought he’s played pretty well. Clint (Capela) is going to play the bulk of the minutes. But (Nene is) giving us 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the game, of toughness.”
The Rockets will not look to Nene to score. His top-scoring game in the series was five points in Game 1. But Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau cited the ways Nene contributed without scoring.
“He’s a good player,” Thibo- deau said. “He’s been around a long time so that veteran experience, the physicality he brings and he’s a gifted player. He screens. He can score. He’s strong with the ball. I think he’s done a great job with his role with them. He’s been around a long time. I think the role that he’s in helps him because you’re not (in) extended minutes, and he plays with a lot of energy.”
Tucker shakes off contusion to knee
Though Rockets forward P.J. Tucker took a hard fall in Game 4 that he could feel in the time between games, there was no chance he would miss Wednesday’s Game 5.
“He said it would take a lot more than that to get him out,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He was sore (on Tuesday), but he was out there and did everything.”
Tucker, who logged 33 minutes in Game 5, said his left knee was bruised, but he was relieved it was nothing worse.
“When I hurt it, I heard a crack and crumble,” Tucker said. “I was scared about what it was, but it’s just a contusion.”
Since returning to the NBA in 2012, Tucker has played in 483 games, the most in the league in those six seasons.
D’Antoni enjoys Sixers’ resurgence
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni did not consider his time in Philadelphia to be long enough to make him a part of “The Process.” He was the associate head coach under Brett Brown in the 2015-16 season when the Sixers went 10-72.
“I was only there about three months, so don’t hang all of them on me,” D’Antoni said of the losses that season. “I have enough of my own.”
He was there long enough, however, to have an appreciation for what it took to build a team that has reached the Eastern Conference semifinals this season, eliminating the Heat on Tuesday in five games.
“I’m really happy for them, Happy for Bryan (Colangelo, the 76ers general manager who was with D’Antoni in Phoenix.) I think they’ve done a really good job. It’s great for the league. It’s just a great story. They are one of the storied franchises and they’re back where they should be. It’s great.”