D’Antoni careful with injuries
In addition to a sore left knee, coach Mike D’Antoni said James Harden — who returned Monday in the win over the Spurs — sat out Sunday in Dallas with soreness in his right hand.
Neither was considered much of an issue or enough to have kept him out if needed, with the Rockets determined to be cautious down the stretch.
“If he didn’t have any aches and pains we wouldn’t have done it,” D’Antoni said. “His hand got hit (in Toronto) and knee. It was a good time to take advantage of both of them.
“There’s a balance (between staying sharp and rested). I rely on my doctors and medical staff and trainers. They have all kinds of data (on) who the guys that are red-lining a little bit, and we back them off or rest them totally. It’s touchy because you don’t want to get them out of rhythm. And also, we’re trying to get the No. 1 seed. We think that’s important. How important is it? We’ll see as we go on. But we’re trying to do both.”
D’Antoni said forward Ryan Anderson stepped up his rehab workouts as he seeks to return from a sore left hip, but he does not have a timetable for his return or for Brandan Wright, who stayed back from the road trip to build strength in his right leg.
Popovich guides new personnel
The Spurs faced the Rockets on Monday without LaMarcus Aldridge, who has a sore right knee, and Kawhi Leonard, who has been out for all but nine games while coming back from his injury.
But while the health issues have dropped them back to the unfamiliar position of having to compete for a playoff spot, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said they have helped the growth process of his young players.
Dejounte Murray replaced Tony Parker as the starting point guard and Davis Bertans has played regularly off the bench.
“I’m really proud of them,” Popovich said. “I’m happy for them. They’re getting a lot of minutes. I think it’s helping them become better players. The experience they get playing in the games is obviously really important. They can do drills all day long but being in those situations is what helps them improve. They’ve done a good job of that and kept their spirits up.
“More losing than they’re used to, but despite that it’s been a fun group and a hardworking group.”
With that in mind, Popovich has had to weigh sticking with Murray to let him go through growing pains or finishing with Parker.
“There is an urge at the end of games when I try to decide whether to leave Dejounte out there or put Tony out there because Tony has a little more feel for how to end a game,” Popovich said. “You can’t have it both ways. If you want the young guy to gain some corporate knowledge, you do that by playing and understanding situations; we have to keep him out there. There is a lot that he learns based on who he plays against.
“You think about this young kid, he didn’t play last year, basically. He was hurt all the time. He was hurt all summer. He’s in a lot of ways a rookie. He’s going to learn tons about how these big-time players conduct themselves in a game, the tricks they use, what kind of talent level they have, how they judge time and score. I’m thrilled for him because it is being thrown in the frying pan, for sure.”
Laurel D’Antoni honored at game
Laurel D’Antoni, the wife of Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, was honored during Monday’s game at Toyota Center with the inaugural “Partner in Public Education Award” given by the Texas School Public Relations Association for her work spearheading the Rockets Women’s Organization in helping Sheldon Independent School District recover from Hurricane Harvey.
The D’Antonis donated to the Sheldon ISD education Foundation to help teachers replace school items lost in the flooding. The Rockets Women’s Foundation donated backpacks and school supplies and distributed books with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation.
“The schools are awesome,” D’Antoni said. “Sheldon is a school district in northeast Houston. It’s in unincorporated Harris County. It’s kind of a challenging environment as it is right now.
“One of the problems we’re having is attendance because a lot of the families are still displaced.”
The Rockets hosted Sheldon ISD superintendent King R. Davis and community partnership coordinator Lila Hollin at Monday’s game.