Defense rises to top of the league
Rockets coach Ime Udoka wasn't even tempted. He had a defensive gameplan. Alperen Şengün would deal with the Nuggets phenomenal Nikola Jokic on his own, no double-teams, no help. The Rockets would seek to stop everyone else.
Joki was sensational. He would score more than he has in any game this season. But the strategy was working. For Udoka, it was not hard to stay with what he believed in, no matter what Jokic was doing.
Jokic could score from the rim to the 3-point line and most points in between. Udoka had no trouble staying the course.
“It's not difficult for the coaches,” Udoka said with a subtle smile. “It's difficult for the players that are kind of going through it or the guy that has to guard him one-on-one.”
By the end of the night, the Rockets had their second win in less than a week against the reigning NBA champions.
They also had the topranked defense in the NBA.
That represents a remarkable turnaround from last season when they were 29th defensively.
It's not just numbers. As Friday's 105-86 win demonstrated, the Rockets also had a defensive identity, a style as clear as the Bucks funneling ballhandlers to Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo or the seasons with the Raptors running a wide away or traps and zones.
The Rockets switch and defend one-on-one, sending help usually only to cover for mismatches. Even then, they don't mind putting players in difficult situations, with 6-0 guard Fred VanVleet and Aaron Holiday often alone on big men until help can arrive. The Rockets don't switch everything, but they are willing to switch anything.
“For us, it's telling them, ‘Stay the course, don't get frustrated, don't foul when we're in the bonus there, make them earn everything,'' Udoka said. “That slow the pace for those guys and taking away the 3s seems to work for us.''
It is also could be an indication of the Rockets' gameplan in the games ahead, beginning Tuesday in Dallas where opponents always must choose between sending help against Luka Doncic and leaving options for his playmaking, or defending Doncic one-on-one and risking having him light up opposing defenders and scoreboards.
If the Rockets were willing to have Şengün defend Jokic alone they would seem likely to put Dillon Brooks on an island to keep other defensive players attached to Mavericks shooters. Brooks would seem to prefer it that way, relishing those challenges.
That might especially be key against the Mavericks if it allows the Rockets to stick with shooters who have averaged the most 3pointers in the NBA on the fifth best shooting percentage.
It would not be the first time. The Rockets have the second best 3-point percentage defense in the league, allowing the fifth fewest 3s per game.
Even with Golden State hitting 21 3-pointers on 48.8% shooting against the Rockets on Monday, the Rockets have held opponents to an average of 9.8 3s on 32% shooting in the past eight games.
The Rockets have held seven teams to fewer than 10 3-pointers in 14 games, having kept opponents to fewer than 10 3s seven times all of last season when the Rockets surrendered the most 3s per game in the league.
The improvement can point to many changes, including the addition of veterans, development of young players and the good fortune to have the starting lineup and most of the rotation available for every game.
Holiday has been the top-rated defensive player in the NBA among players qualified to rank among the league leaders with Jae'Sean Tate sixth. (Tari Eason would be first but has played in just seven games, too few to qualify.)
But it also points to a defensive philosophy so evident on Friday, when Jokic had a season-high 38 points, but the rest of the Nuggets made just 28.6% of their shots.
Yet, while the switching has worked as designed, keeping defenders in position to contest 3s, the Rockets have also allowed the second-fewest points in the paint in the NBA.
That speaks to the improvement of individual defenders that struggled in the previous two seasons, Şengün and Jalen Green, and the determination — as Udoka put it in training camp, borrowing the Doug Collins line while with USA Basketball — to force teams to ‘Make teams make plays, not run plays.”
“Improvement from Alperen in pick-and-roll coverage and then all the switching, take away a lot of the advantages teams have on and off ball, tell teams to beat us one-oneone,” Udoka said. “I think our guys have done a great job defending isolations and keeping guys out of the paint and when they do come, our guys have done a good job of making plays and crowding the paint and scrambling.
“That's kind of the foundation of our defense, to kind of take away all those options and make teams beat us one-on-one.”
There is also a growing chemistry, the sort that comes with belief in a system and keeping a starting lineup together in every game.
“You got to feel each other out on defense just like you do on offensive,” forward Jabari Smith Jr. said. “Just like they say you got to learn your teammates on offense, you have to on defense, too. I feel like we're doing that. It's getting easy.”
It was not easy for the guy stuck on Jokic with no help, as someone likely be on Doncic on Tuesday, Jokic again on Wednesday and LeBron James next weekend in Los Angeles.
“That was our game plan,” Şengün said. “He's going to score. Because I think when he passes, and he has more assists, I think he's more effective. We did our game plan and we held them to 86 points, which is great for us.”
It was the fewest points the Rockets have allowed, or the Nuggets have scored in a game this season, but it was more representative of how they have developed from one of the league's worst to one of the best defenses, with Udoka saying there remains room to grow.
“We're looking at 20, 30 games down the line where we'll be” Udoka said. “Guys are taking pride on that end, as opposed to thinking offense only.
“Schematically, some things are different. Guys are accepting those roles. We're happy with where we're at and where we're going, but still feel we can get a lot better.”