Guarding their letdown
Team ranks last in the NBA defensively over past five games
The Rockets believed they were past this, with their fivegame winning streak offering proof they had left their stumbling start behind. That makes the downturn in their defense — and the three-game losing streak that it brought — more frustrating.
But the fact they escaped the problem once this season indicates there is a way out again.
“It’s a slow start, no doubt,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “But it was complicated with injuries. We’re thin anyway. Then when Chris (Paul) got a two-game suspension, that put too many minutes on James (Harden) and Eric (Gordon), and they got hurt.
“We’ve just been battling uphill ever since. But when we were
together, we were really good. We’ll get back together, and we’ll make a run at it.”
Nearly a quarter of the way into the season, however, the Rockets have been plugging leaks only to spring new ones. They began with the defense in shambles for six games, corrected that, but then misfired badly offensively. They got their shots going, won five straight, but then hit the road with the defense breaking down.
The winless road trip can be blamed on many factors, but most debilitating has been the simple inability to stay in front of guards off the dribble, from Reggie Jackson in the fourth quarter and overtime in Detroit to Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkston in Cleveland and finally John Wall and Bradley Beal in Washington.
That led to three straight losses, two in overtime, and a fall back under .500 heading into Wednesday’s game against the resurgent and rested Mavericks, winners of six of seven games, including against Oklahoma City, Golden State, Utah and Boston.
Though the Rockets will not expect to get 90 points a night from their starting backcourt, as they did from Harden and Gordon in Monday’s loss, they don’t expect to need that much if they can get their defense back to speed.
“We have to cut things off defensively,” forward James Ennis III said. “Just more minutes, that part of it. We have to stay engaged for the 24 seconds of the shot clock and defensive rebound as a unit. People are making tough shots. People are getting downhill, too. We have to force the opponent to one side of the floor as a unit. We’ll watch film, learn from it and get better.”
The Rockets allowed an average of 122.7 points on 50.4 percent shooting on the road trip, with the Wizards making a season-best 57.8 percent
Having climbed to 13th in points allowed per possession, the Rockets have ranked last defensively over their past five games, a decline that began before the road-trip losses.
There was a hope the greatest issue defensively was fatigue, a problem that could be solved by getting Paul and Gerald Green back from injuries. Both are listed as questionable to return Wednesday. With the Rockets twice going to overtime in the past three games and Paul missing a pair, Harden and P.J. Tucker averaged 44 and 43 minutes, respectively, on the road trip, with Capela averaging 40.5 and Gordon 38.8.
“We just can’t stay in front of people,” D’Antoni said. “Got to do it. That comes from tired legs. It happens.”
Fresher legs could help but will have to quickly. The Mavericks are seventh in the NBA in drives per game, eighth in scoring off drives.
“We just need our depth,” Harden said. “Obviously, guys are playing heavy minutes. Defensively, I think we’re good. We have our spurts (when) we’re great. Then we have spurts we’re average. Just limit those mistakes.”
There could be more to it than that. Only two teams commit more fouls per possession than the Rockets. The Rockets allow the sixth-most free throws, the second most per possession.
With the switching style, there had been a tendency to grab on rolls to the basket. But worse than sending opponents to the line, foul trouble has made Rockets defenders cautious, a problem Harden and Gordon cited Monday.
“It’s tough,” Gordon said. “We’re making adjustments to the new rules. We have to be smarter, but we try to be aggressive also. When we get a little aggressive, that’s when we get tick-tack fouls. We definitely have to be smarter.
“We’re not discouraged. We’re going to get this thing rolling here soon. It’s good that we’re all figuring it out and jelling together. We’re not playing a lot of guys. It’s tough, but we will overcome it.”
If fatigue and inconsistency have been the problem, there would seem to be solutions. Better to defend well sporadically than not at all. And being shorthanded could be a temporary issue with the injuries to Green and Paul considered short-term.
“Injuries, personnel,” Tucker said of the changes since the five-game winning streak. “We still have times we do it and get rolling. We have spurts we did it. We have to figure out how to keep that focus when we get it going and lock in on defense, rather than think about our offense. Our offense is fine. It’s our defense that has to pick it up and be more consistent.
“We have a lineup that is playing a lot of big minutes. That’s part of it. It’s a long season. You just have to keep playing. You can have ups and downs. You just want to make sure by April you have it figured out and get rolling full steam ahead by then.”