After rocky start, good news carries the day
Capela will escape injury scare; Anthony finds comfort zone
SAN ANTONIO — The Rockets’ lead, once as large as 15, was gone. Center Clint Capela was off in the back of AT&T Center getting X-rays on his sore right hand. Carmelo Anthony, coming off the bench for the first time after 16 NBA seasons as a starter, could not make a shot.
The Rockets did not need such drama from a preseason Sunday in San Antonio. Had they taken a couple of their scoring bursts to a tidy, healthy win, they would have been just fine with that. This was better.
Word arrived that Capela’s X-rays were negative. He had left the game with just a bruise and left San Antonio with no concerns. The Rockets had reclaimed their defense and their lead. Finally, Anthony offered the finishing kick they envisioned when they added him to the mix, sending the Rockets past the Spurs 108-93, encouraged by how they got there.
“I was due for it, man,” Anthony said. “I just came out, shot was short, legs were heavy. These early games, I have to get used to that. But just coming down, sometimes all it takes is to see the ball go in one time to get that flow and get that rhythm. Then guys see that and recognize and kind of just go to you.”
After missing all six shots he put up in the first half, bringing his contribution to the horrendous shooting at that point, Anthony got that first shot to fall in the third quarter with a jumper to give the Rockets their largest lead. But the burst that would come might have demonstrated how the Rockets hope he can add to their offensive firepower.
With Capela through for the game, and backup centers Isaiah Hartenstein and Marquese Chriss in Houston with sprained left ankles, the Rockets had gone extensively with their small lineup, with Anthony and P.J. Tucker on the floor together and often matched up with 6-11 Spurs All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge.
They helped keep Aldridge in check, holding him to 5-of-15 shooting in 27 minutes. Tucker, playing 34 minutes in his first action of the preseason, led the Rockets in scoring with 19 points. Finally, with the Rockets holding a three-point lead with 7½ minutes left, Anthony took over.
Just 41 seconds after he returned to the floor, Anthony hit a deep 3 on a break to get going. He sank consecutive midrange jumpers, the sort the Rockets avoid, especially in a game like Sunday’s when they put up 53 3-pointers. When he added another long 3-pointer, he had scored 10 points in 2½ minutes, rebuilding the double-digit lead and clearing the benches.
“It was good,” guard James Harden said of Anthony’s run. “As days go by, he gets his rhythm and he gets his swag. He’ll find it. It just takes a little time, that’s it.”
The use of the small lineups could allow Mike D’Antoni to start Tucker at power forward and get Anthony starter’s minutes without having him at the small forward spot he played throughout his career. By playing them together when Capela is out of the game, both can play extended minutes.
Tucker played a bit more than he normally would Sunday with Capela limited to 21½ minutes, but Anthony played 28½ minutes off the bench before D’Antoni put in the rookies to close out the final 3½ minutes.
Perhaps even more encouraging than Anthony’s late scoring was the defense the Rockets played with their small lineups, battling Aldridge for position and sending double-team help late in the shot clock.
“I love playing against guys that want to play with their back to the basket,” Anthony said of adding low-post defensive duties. “I can hold my ground. The only thing is if you got a great jump hook, you got me. A lot of times you see a mismatch, guys want to bang and get to their spots. As long as you can hold your ground and make them shoot over top of you, you’ve done your job.”
The Spurs’ rally from a 15point deficit to a four-point lead was largely driven by the energy from reserves Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli and Bryn Forbes, the big men with size advantages inside.
The Rockets handled that, then got good news from the training room and their newest star scorer.