Defense on the rise in bubble

The Rockets might not have written their seeding games to-do list in order of top priorities, but if they had, shoring up the defense would likely have come out on top.

In that regard, they went into Sunday’s game having made significant if inconsistent progress, especially since their rocky start against the high-scoring Mavericks.

The Rockets entered with the sixth-ranked defense of the restart, allowing 109 points per 100 possessions. Since the opener against Dallas, they had allowed 102.9 points per 100 possessions, second-best in the NBA behind the Raptors in that stretch.

“I think a little better,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said of the defense. “We’re getting to where we have spurts of really good, especially in the fourth quarters of a couple games. I think they’re getting down to where we’re all on a string and trying to get it done, with mistakes. But we’re getting better.”

Sunday’s game against Sacramento was likely to offer a test of the improved communication, a must against teams that screen often leading to increased switching in the Rockets’ scheme. The Kings average the most screen assists and points off screen assists in the NBA.

“Hopefully, they’ll have to go one-on-one because we switch so much it takes them out of what they like to do,” D’Antoni said. “It’s not what the other team does any time. It’s just what we can do. And we have the ability to stop anything. We just have to get to it.”

The communication, especially important on switches, has been a key area of improvement, along with the energy to be disruptive. The Rockets’ 21.8 deflections in the seeding games lead the NBA by a wide margin, 4.4 per game more than the Raptors. They were second in charges drawn per game.

“I think our communication has gotten much better,” Rockets guard Austin Rivers said. “We’re learning to talk more. For us, were starting to be in sync and know each other’s defensive tendencies. I think right now, we’re really starting to get better.”

Westbrook, Gordon sit again

Rockets guards Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon missed Sunday’s game against the Kings, the second Westbrook has been out with a bruised quadriceps muscle and the fifth Gordon has had to sit out with a sprained ankle. But Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said the chances of both returning Tuesday for the Spurs is “good.”

“Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see,” he said. “We’ll go through shootaround (on Monday) and see how it feels. It’s looking likely.”

Kings left playing for experience

The Kings went into Sunday’s game against the Rockets with their hopes to make a run to a playoff play-in scenario all but over.

They had fallen to last among the Western Conference teams in the restart with just one win in their first five games. But they also considered the experience valuable compared to the teams that were excluded from the seeding games.

“The bubble hasn’t gone the way we were hoping it would for us,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “This is still great opportunities for us. We have to take full advantage of this. With so much uncertainty, we don’t know when we’ll be playing again. These last three games are a great chance to continue to grow and to push.

“You get to this time of the year and we’re playing against mostly playoff teams and you look around the bubble and those teams that are making those plays, those teams that have been in the playoffs before are finding ways to win most nights. We’re not there, yet.”

Even between games, they believe it has beneficial to be in the bubble compared to the teams that were excluded.