Johnson has comfort zone in D’Antoni’s fluid schemes
With Ryan Anderson out for a third consecutive game with a sore hip flexor and Eric Gordon back from his time out with food poisoning, Joe Johnson has gotten more playing time as a power forward, a position he said has worked well for him to find mismatches.
“As someone who came into the league as a one, two and three, playing the four, I can do things some guys are not as comfortable with,” Johnson said. “We just look to make plays. That’s what it’s about.
“This whole team, man, is built whatever five you put out there, at some point, there’s going to be a mismatch. Every trip down the court. That’s how I look at it. I fit in great with these guys.”
The Rockets take the second fewest post-up shots per game (1.6) in the NBA, but coach Mike D’Antoni said he would be open to giving Johnson post-up touches.
“Joe can make a lot of plays out of there,” D’Antoni said. “I think it will just come naturally. He can put the ball on the floor. He is more of a wing. Ryan is more catch-andshoot. Joe is more catch and do something with the ball. They play differently, but still fit in our structure.
“That’s part of the process of the next month, trying to figure out exactly how we want to play guys.”
The Rockets go oneon-one more than any other team in the NBA, which should fit well with the skills of a player once known as ‘Iso-Joe.” As quickly as Johnson seemed to fit in, he said he has been getting accustomed to the Rockets’ style in the past few games.
“I’m only going to get more comfortable as the season goes along,” Johnson said. “It’s just game action, playing, I’ll get familiar with everything. So far, it’s been pretty fun.”
Celtics’ Stevens praises Rockets
As much as teams focus on the Rockets’ offense, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the defense has been an overlooked key to the Rockets’ play that he called the best he has seen from them in his five seasons in Boston.
“Their defense isn’t talked about enough,” Stevens said. “All their switching, how active they are, how aggressive they are. In the words of another coach I was talking to, they’ve taken switching to a whole other level. It’s very difficult to play against.
“This is the best I’ve ever seen them. We didn’t play them with (Chris) Paul early in the season, and (Clint) Capela. Their depth, they are really deep. That’s a lot of guys that can really do damage.”
The Rockets have relied on switching throughout the season, but have moved even more toward that style since P.J. Tucker moved into the starting lineup and Luc Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza returned from injuries. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Tucker’s defensive versatility led to the move to have him, rather than Ryan Anderson, start and would likely lead him to sticking with the same lineup.
“The defense, and being able to switch,” D’Antoni said. “I think he and Trevor team up well. I’d rather start off real strong defensively and P.J. gives us that.”
Green’s instincts remain a positive
Though Rockets guard/ forward Gerald Green has often been the odd man out of the rotation in the past few weeks, he had that role in Boston last season, when coach Brad Stevens said he showed the value of having some players that can pick up where they left off.
Green played in 47 games with the Celtics, averaging 5.6 points. But in the postseason, he went from not playing in some games to excelling in Games 4 and 6 in Chicago, scoring 18 and 16 points in Celtics’ wins.
“One of the things about guys as they get older in this league is they figure out how they can really impact winning,” Stevens said. “Gerald did it for us last year. He wasn’t always going to be on the court. He wasn’t going to get consistent 25 minutes every game. But when he was called upon we knew he could go on a run quickly.
“In the Chicago series, he played 20 to 25 minutes and helped us win that series. When you talk about a team that is as deep as Houston is — and Houston is as deep as they come — having another guy on the bench that can get 15 points in a short span of time is a huge thing.”
Jonathan Feigen