‘Role player’ Capela on a roll; Harden wants less mistakes

Rockets center Clint Capela’s craving to continue improving has impressed teammate James Harden.

“You’ve got guys who are just comfortable being in the NBA, and you’ve got guys who actually want to have a legacy,” Harden said. “Clint is one of those guys.”

Capela, 23, blocked 11 shots in the last two games of the Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz, and his 2.8 blocks per game are tops in the playoffs. In addition, Capela’s 12.2 rebounds per game are the most of any player among the four remaining teams.

The Rockets open the Western Conference finals on Monday night at home against the Warriors. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was asked Friday if the budding Capela has been overlooked among the game’s top centers this season.

“What he does has been unbelievable,” D’Antoni said. “(But) he’ll be overlooked — they’ll say he’s a role player. Everybody is a role player — even if you’re a star player you’re a role player.

“He’s a star player and he’s in a role. (Now), we’re not going to go to him and say, ‘You carry the offense.’ But what he does is as good or better than anybody in the (game), without a doubt.”

D’Antoni added that Capela’s consistently increasing strength and durability has been a big plus for the Rockets this season.

The 25th overall pick of the 2014 draft played 89 minutes in 2014, 1,470 in 2015 and 1,551 in 2016. That number jumped to 2,034 this regular season.

“It’s not necessarily who he’s doing it against, but it’s just how he’s played and being relentless and what happens when he’s on the floor,” D’Antoni said of Capela’s rebounding and shot-altering capabilities.

“Now, he’s able to stay on the floor 30-something minutes a game because of his stamina, and his energy is way up. … He’s definitely jumped up to another level.”

Cutting down on turnovers a priority

James Harden said one of the Rockets’ top priorities is cutting down on miscues, and then pointed to himself as a culprit in the conference semifinals against the Jazz. The Rockets won the series in five games.

“I did a terrible job in the last two games in that Utah series of turning the basketball over,” Harden said. “(We have) to limit our turnovers. … (The Warriors) are No. 1 in transition, so you don’t turn the ball over and try to play in half-court as much as possible.”

Harden had 11 turnovers (eight and three) in the last two games, most among the Rockets.

Success on switches may help in series

The Rockets are fluid defensively at switching on opponents’ pick-and-rolls, and coach Mike D’Antoni said that’s a good thing against the Warriors.

“Players have become so good and so skilled doing pick-and-rolls that if you don’t switch, you open (opponents up) for a lot of rotations, and now people are knocking 3-pointers down, especially the best teams,” D’Antoni said. “To even have a chance against somebody like Golden State, you just have to kind of not get into rotations as much as you can, or they will kill you.

“That’s the reasoning behind (switching); we just happen to have a roster full of guys that it makes sense to be able to switch.”

Houstonian Green lets his hair down

Native Houstonian Gerald Green gave the media a different look prior to Friday’s practice — one with his long hair unbraided. Green, whose luxurious locks were sprouting in all directions, said he was simply letting his hair “breathe” for a day.

Teammate Eric Gordon chuckled when asked about Green’s supposedly temporary natural look that was new to reporters.

“That dude … nothing is new with Gerald,” Gordon said. “We see that all of the time, but I’m pretty sure that was his first time interviewing like that. He’s a funny dude.”