Rockets to face Lakers in battle of titans.
First meeting with West-best Lakers will be big and tall task
Of all the storylines certain to fill the season’s first meeting of the Rockets and Lakers on Saturday, the only Toyota Center appearance for Los Angeles this season, there is one that even the certain to be exhaustive ESPN/ABC coverage could look past.
It would, however, go a long way toward telling many of the other stories that fill — and are potentially the keys to winning — the matchup.
For added flavor, Rockets vs. Lakers could see plenty of James Harden matched up with Dwight Howard. They can chat about old times.
That potentially fun showdown, and reminder of Howard’s three-year stay in Houston in between his stints with the Lakers and various other stops, could reveal a great deal about the Rockets’ challenge against the Lakers, beyond the more obvious issues that come with facing a 33-8 team built around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
It might even point to a long-term concern going forward.
Some of that could depend on if Davis returns from his bruised spine. He is listed as questionable. If Davis does play, Harden could spend much of the game defending the Lakers’ leading scorer and rebounder, or finish it on his former teammate amid a bounceback season.
The Lakers, in addition to their other qualities, have tremendous length. Other than 6-10 center Clint Capela, the Rockets’ starting lineup is 6-5 and shorter.
The Rockets prefer to keep P.J. Tucker on James from the time the Lakers’ star gets off the bus. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said he plans to
get Tucker’s playing time to roughly 30 minutes per game, down from his career-high 34.9. But on Saturday, Tucker will “shadow” James, who when matched up against Tucker last season made 42.9 percent of his shots, missing all five of his 3-pointers.
That would put either Capela or Harden on Davis, with the other matching up with the Lakers’ centers, JaVale McGee and Howard.
Either way, the spotlight that always shines on Harden will find him defending a player he looks straight in the chest, which though not unusual for him, in this case would point out a significant difference between the teams.
“No matter what, they’re a good team,” Harden said. “They won a few games without Anthony Davis. LeBron’s game doesn’t change. He finds ways to impact the game, rebounding, scoring, playmaking abilities. For us, it’s the same.”
For the Rockets, matchups with teams with great length, which includes the conference front-running Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, can be a test of postseason potential.
As much trouble as the Rockets have had scoring at the rim, especially lately, that can become much tougher if Davis is back to join either Howard or McGee in the paint. The Lakers are fifth at defended field-goal percentage within six feet of the basket.
“I’m assuming their rim protection is really great,” Harden said. “We haven’t played them, so we don’t know. But they do a good job of contesting shots with their length. They have some pretty good guards that are guarding you.”
Last weekend’s change to the Rockets’ starting lineup, with guard Ben McLemore starting to have Danuel House Jr. more often available to spell Tucker at power forward, will not impact the matchups.
“You wouldn’t put Danuel House on Anthony Davis,” D’Antoni said. “It doesn’t matter if Ben starts
or not.”
Instead, he would either call on Harden or Capela, though Capela might have hinted at the plan when he was asked if defending Davis would be similar to his excitement about going against the 76ers’ Joel Embiid in what would become his best performance of the season.
“It’s different,” Capela said. “(Saturday), it’s more about the whole team that I’m excited about. Against the Sixers, it was more faceto-face. Of course, it’s a great challenge. I won’t be on him only. He’s playing at the four. It’s always a great matchup, a great player, one of the best at his position.”
The more obvious adjustment to the Lakers’ size will be going without the “Tuckwagon” lineup, where Tucker plays at center and the Rockets spread the floor with shooters, a concession to the Lakers bringing Howard off the bench with 6-10 Kyle Kuzma if Kuzma is not replacing Davis in the starting lineup. That would mean playing either Isaiah Hartenstein or Tyson Chandler
off the Rockets’ bench.
“We’ll probably play two bigs most of the game,” D’Antoni said. “They are long. That’s what they do. We might not be able to downsize.”
The challenge, however, goes well beyond trying to stand toe-to-toe with a team head and shoulders taller. The Lakers are one of two teams — along with the Bucks — in the top five in offensive and defensive rating. The Lakers are the only team in the top five in points in the paint, secondchance points, fast-break points and points off turnovers.
“It’s always a test, how we match up and what we have to adjust to,” D’Antoni said. “It is still January. We’ll see how it goes.”
There will be many tests to come, including a pair of games at Staples Center. But as the Rockets arrive at the midpoint of the season, they know their first game against the Lakers will offer a chance to see how they measure up.