Tough road tests loom large
Matchups with T-Wolves, Jazz offer chance to prove progress
The Rockets make it look so easy when things are going well.
James Harden opened their latest win with an alley-oop to Clint Capela. James Ennis showed off a spin move from his bag of isolation tricks. Eric Gordon nailed a 33-footer. P.J. Tucker followed a thrashing at the basket with a full body flex and converted the and-one. Harden bounced a no-look pass, then Chris Paul topped it with a better one.
Even when their sluggish start to the second half let the lead shrink to four, all coach Mike D’Antoni needed in order to shake off the stupor was a, “Come on guys,” his grudging reminder that they were the Rockets and their opponent was the five-win Chicago Bulls.
“Then, just as soon as you do that,” D’Antoni said, “James comes out and whacks two or three 3s, and, OK, the game’s over. That’s his M.O.”
A 20-point lead put the starters in hoodies for the final 3 minutes of a 121-105 win on Saturday.
The blowout was more business as usual than a boast-worthy feat. The Rockets (11-11) are weeks removed from their rudderless search for an identity, but they still are seeking a stretch of performances that would make them feel proud of their season.
While Toyota Center security and staff flanking the Rockets’ locker room raised their hands to celebrate the win with the incoming players, Gerald Green added sobering commentary to his fist-bumps.
“We got a long way to go,” Green said and repeated. “Let’s keep it rolling.”
The Rockets have yet to play with a consistency or prowess they would deem commendable. After bottoming out in October, they alternated between the league’s stingiest defense and most prolific offense. They have not held an opponent to fewer than 105 points since Nov. 15, but over the last 11 games, their 121.3 points per 100 possessions is nearly six points better than the Milwaukee Bucks’ mark. Credit goes to more fluid connections between Harden and Capela, increased contributions from Ennis and improved shooting from Gordon.
“We might not be there yet, but we’re getting there,” D’Antoni said.
Their current road trip, starting Monday in Minnesota, playing Thursday in Utah and finishing Saturday in Dallas, will prove if Houston is floating or fluttering in the tightly packed Western Conference – three losses separate the fourththrough 14th-place teams.
“We need to go on the road now and get some good, quality wins,” D’Antoni said. “We’ve had a couple, but we need to go show everybody who we need to beat.”
“This will show how (ready) our team is to really take off,” Gordon said. “If we play well on this trip, I think we’re really going to take off in the right direction. I think we will. We know it’s still a long season. But to me, it’s a very important trip.”
Despite the matchups against the Timberwolves and Jazz, teams that the Rockets defeated in last year’s postseason, Harden and Tucker suggested that Houston still is too concerned with its own shortcomings to bother measuring itself against any opponent. The Rockets dropped three of their previous four road games.
“Our last road trip wasn’t very successful,” Harden said. “It’s another great test for us.”
Plus, the current Wolves are not a good comparison with those the Rockets bounced from the playoffs last April. Since trading Jimmy Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers for Dario Saric and Robert Covington, Minnesota has the league’s second-best defensive rating.
“Every game’s a test right now,” Tucker said.
Tucker, the leader and harshest critic of the defense, has been meager with praise during the team’s porous play lately. He notices the insufficient communication. He sees the holes that need to be filled.
He continues to hold the team accountable. With a bench crowded with forwards and the return of backup center Nene Hilario, Tucker made it clear that the Rockets cannot fish for ways to justify their failures.
“We’ve got everybody back,” Tucker said. “No excuses. Nothing we can say, like, ‘We’re missing guys,’ ‘We’re shorthanded,’ ‘Playing a lot of minutes’ — it don’t matter. We gotta win games.
“We look at ourselves as championship contenders. We’re trying to fight for this thing.”