Rockets’ late arrivals Harden, Westbrook look good to go
Talented backcourt shows little rust in loss to Raptors
On Sunday, when the Rockets get together for a video session and practice, there will be plenty they won’t like about their night of bubble-ball.
On Friday, when they had their first scrimmage tunetheir up, there were no complaints.
Play was ragged at times. The reserves were crushed in the fourth quarter. The Raptors ran away with a 9483 win.
But in addition to getting to play against another team for the first time in four months, the Rockets got first look at the NBA’s restart setup in action.
Just days after Russell Westbrook wondered, somewhat facetiously, if he could make a layup, the Rockets saw him flying from coast-to-coast and above the rim in 16 strong first-half minute.
They saw James Harden, who also had his arrival to the restart camp delayed, easily move the ball to open shots all around him on his way to a rapid double-double.
They were not about to get caught up in how the reserves looked when the benches were largely cleared for the fourth quarter.
“It’s fun to play again,”
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “It’s a great atmosphere. It’s fun to play in. It’s pure basketball. You’re hooping.”
Most encouraging under the circumstances might have been the play and apparent fitness of Westbrook. He played 16 minutes before he was held out of their second half in just his third day out of quarantine. He made 5 of 12 shots, had nine rebounds and did not seem to
have lost anything in the time he was out after a positive COVID-19 test.
“He looked pretty athletic, didn’t he?” D’Antoni said. “He must have been working on his athleticism.
“He did that the very first practice. He came in and it didn’t seem like he missed a beat. He’s coming at you and you know his game. His heart is unbelievable.”
If Westbrook was uncertain before his first practice on Wednesday, there seemed no concerns on Friday, or about his readiness for when the “seeding” games begin next Friday against the Dallas Mavericks.
“Felt good. I’ll be all right,” he said. “We just have to make sure we’re ready as a team. I’ll find my way. I’m not worried about it.”
Harden had 24 points and 10 assists in his 25 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter.
With Westbrook and Harden on the bench, and Austin Rivers unavailable after leaving the campus because of a family matter, the Rockets were thin in the backcourt by the fourth quarter. Forwards Luc Mbah a Moute and DeMarre Carroll also were out with Mbah a Moute only cleared on Friday and Carroll just returning to practice on Thursday because of a hamstring issue.
By the fourth quarter, Gordon was the only starter on the floor, but he never got going. Gordon made 4 of 11 shots, scoring 11 points in 26 minutes. But D’Antoni said the plan is to return Gordon to the starting lineup, bringing Danuel House Jr. who had been starting when the season was suspended in March, off the bench.
“We’ll start Eric,” D’Antoni said. “That’s how we’re going to go. He’s getting his legs. He didn’t make a lot of shots, but Eric’s going to be good.”
D’Antoni said he did not think it mattered a great deal whether House or Gordon starts. He said House might be better suited for the longer stretches of playing time that will come in a sixth man role, preferring to have Gordon rest and be ready to return when Harden sits.
House had a strong showing in the role, making 7 of 11 shots for his 18 points in a game-high 31 minutes, triggering offense on several possessions with drives that drew the defense and led to open 3s.
The Rockets did not shoot well, making just 29.2 percent of the 48 3-pointers they put up after a fourth quarter when they went 0for-12 from deep. But the execution when either Harden or Westbrook was on the floor was generally good.
“I thought we went through stretches with good ball movement to wideopen shots; just missed our shots,” D’Antoni said. “I thought defensively in certain stretches we were really good.
‘It was a good first step. Things we wanted to see, we did. Russell is in a pretty good place. James seemed to be clicking. We see areas we need to get better at. It’s definitely doable.”
After so long spent waiting and even wondering if they would get that chance, that was enough. It helped, however, that their MVP guards looked like themselves.