Early struggles not surprising or worrisome

This was never going to be easy.

Replacing Chris Paul. Making it work with Russell Westbrook — on both ends of the court.

Finding a way back to the top of the wide-open Western Conference after a crazy offseason dominated by turmoil, bickering, a blockbuster trade, constant hints of even greater change, and more turmoil.

Wednesday night’s 129-112 victory inside Toyota Center was a nice shot in the arm, but Golden State was irrelevant when it came to the Rockets’ overall 2019-20 season. The Warriors clearly aren’t the Warrrrrrriors. One of the best rivalries in sports since 2014 has been silenced and is currently just

another part of NBA history.

For these Rockets, it’s all about the long play.

“Just trying to get some wins,” coach Mike D’Antoni said before game eight of 82. “Just trying to stay relevant until we iron out some stuff and we play better. We haven’t played well, offensively or defensively, especially on the defensive end. We just haven’t been sharp, just haven’t communicated very well.” May matters.

For the Rockets, November is for fixing things.

An outdated 82-game season has become a soft setup for a two-month playoff battle and the league’s real, second season. Kawhi Leonard receives Association-approved “load management.” Westbrook sat out the Rockets’ tight 107-100 road win against Memphis on Monday, even though the team’s secondbest player was healthy enough to play.

Can the Rockets fully fix their

defense in time for late April and the postseason?

Can they completely fix themselves and regain the fire that propelled them to a 57-win average during D’Antoni’s initial three seasons in Houston?

That’s what really matters. Not a 5-3 start that would feel a lot “different” with one more early win changing it to 6-2.

Phoenix started 5-2, and Monty Williams has worked wonders before. But the improved Suns probably aren’t winning the world championship in late June.

“I didn’t see any areas that we can’t improve on,” D’Antoni said. “Some of it is early season. Some of it is you’ve just got to get back in the swing of things and concentrate.”

Against the “Warriors” on Wednesday — five guys started; Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston were either hurt, recovering and on another team, intentionally being kept off the court, or retired — the Rockets got Westbrook back but

were without Eric Gordon, who’s already been out, in and out of D’Antoni’s starting lineup.

“(The Warriors are) completely different,” D’Antoni said. “Obviously, not one guy played against us last year. … They’re just going through a time that I’m sure they’re trying to get enough wins to stay relevant.”

Consistency was supposed to be one of the Rockets’ primary strengths this season after free agency rocked the NBA like never before. Leonard won a title with Toronto, then chose Los Angeles’ other NBA team. Paul George joined The Klaw with the Clippers. Anthony Davis finally joined LeBron James in La La Land, and the remade Lakers entered Wednesday an NBA-best 6-1.

Instead, the Rockets have internally and externally fought against the smooth allure of consistency since they fell to Steve Kerr’s Warriors in the playoffs again.

Everyone except Harden was on the public trade block.

The Rockets swore they weren’t going to trade away

Paul, then (rightfully) shipped him to Oklahoma City.

D’Antoni didn’t receive a contract extension — there are still two sides to that ongoing story — yet was asked to harmoniously piece it all back together, then win 55 or so games again.

Respected defensive coaching guru Jeff Bzdelik was replaced, via a top-down decision, by Elston Turner, who now must become the Rockets’ new defensive coaching guru.

Then D’Antoni’s team played one preseason game in Hawaii and two exhibitions in Japan … while things got really crazy on social media and in prime-time international news.

Somewhere within all that noise, it’s been forgotten that last season’s Rockets started an even-worse 2-5 and hit 11-14 on Dec. 8 before the real turnaround began.

“We went through a little bit of the same thing last year, and we’re going through it (now),” D’Antoni said. “Just got to get it together, and we will.”

Optimism is helpful. Realism is essential right now.

We’ve known for years that Harden can carry the Rockets during the regular season. He is averaging a league-high 36.5 points. He also is shooting just 38.7 percent from the floor and a frigid 27 percent on 3-pointers, while his team ranked 28th out of 30 in defensive rating (113.6).

Westbrook is putting up classic Westbrook numbers (20.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.9 steals) but hitting only 25.8 percent of his 3s, while his team was 20th in net rating (minus-3.4).

The Harden-Westbrook debate has been tabled for a later date.

The Rockets’ most pressing issue on the night that the nonWarriors returned to Toyota Center: looking like the Rockets again.

Then repeating the feat on Friday.

“There’s got to be an urgency that that’s enough,” D’Antoni said. “We’ve screwed up enough. Let’s go. And hopefully, they know that.”