Wood happy to play Pistons
After missing 17 games with a sprained right ankle, and with the Rockets on a franchise-record 18-game losing streak, Christian Wood likely would’ve welcomed a chance to play in any game against any opponent. Still, he was especially happy to be back in time to play against the Pistons, his former team, on Friday, having had to miss the Rockets game in Detroit this season.
“It means a lot,” Wood said. “I can’t wait to play against them. Unfortunately, I have to be on a minute restriction again. I think that will be my last game (playing limited minutes.) Even then, I’m going to try to play hard and give it everything I got within that minute restriction. I’m going to try to find my rhythm a little early because I think (on Wednesday) I found my rhythm in the second half.”
Wood had 21 points and nine rebounds Wednesday against the Warriors, playing just 26 minutes. He went 5 of 7, scoring 12 points in 12 ½ minutes in the second half.
He had said after scoring 27 points on 11 of 13 shooting against the Pelicans in January that he wanted to show that former team what it had let get away. But Wood was unsure quite how he would feel playing against the Pistons, who have just one of his former teammates, Sekou Doumbouya, still on the team.
“There’s a lot of feelings,” Wood said. “I guess we’ll just have to see when the game gets started.”
Pick-and-roll partnership?
The play looked simple, was significant all the same. Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. ran a side pick-and-roll, Porter made a quick move to his left. His lob pass found Wood alone at the rim where he spiked home a one-handed catch and slam.
That was not going to change the game, headed toward the Rockets’ 18th consecutive loss. It was not the only time they would connect. But in the first game Wood and Porter Jr. played together, it did seem to be the start of a pick-and-roll partnership to develop.
“It felt good,” Porter said. “I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to play with him. He’s been tremendous this year. He should have been an All-Star if it wasn’t for the injury. I’m been waiting just to build that chemistry. We already have that chemistry off the court, so it’ll be easy to build it on the court.
“He’s a crazy lob threat. As games come and we play more and more together, they’re going to come more easily. I kind of forced some but we had a lot of good looks and I’m just excited to play with him.”
The 26 minutes they shared the court were not just their first game together. They have still never been on the same side in a practice.
“For a point guard and big to find chemistry on pick-and-rolls and know what each other is going to do, takes a little time,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “They’ll get it. You could see the possibility is there.
“There’s some connections they could have made, some plays that will be made as we go forward, as they learn each other and we get our full group back and our spacing and everything will be better.”
Overall, the Rockets offense struggled throughout Wednesday’s loss. That included the stretches Wood and Porter played together, averaging just 96.8 points per 100 possessions in those 26 minutes though Wood and Porter both scored well, combining for 46 points.
“He knows he has a lob threat out there with him,” Silas said. “We talked about it. We talked about our spacing around it. There were a couple times, he tried to force it to him. The comfort level between the two is something that will improve as we go along and we have a bunch of games to play. Add John (Wall) and Vic (Oladipo) to the mix, it’s going to be pretty good.”