Covington’s agent moves up
While the career of forward Robert Covington went through a significant change last week with the trade that sent him to the Rockets from Minnesota, one of his agents, Leon Rose ,is reportedly in line for an even bigger career move.
Rose is expected to be named president of the Knicks in the wake of last week’s dismissal of Steve Mills.
Covington offered his best wishes.
“That’s big-time for him,” Covington said. “From my time in Philly, we have a really good bond. I’m happy he was able to take his talent to a higher position. The Knicks organization has got a big asset. He can fill a lot of roles.
“Ever since I came to CAA (Creative Artists Agency), Leon’s been nothing but honest and upfront to me from the very beginning. So to see them part ways … the relationship will change business-wise. But the bond we have … that isn’t going to change. We’ll still have our conversations. We’re still going to talk about different things. Overall, I’m just happy for him.”
Celtics coach praises D’Antoni
Long before the Rockets made their recent commitment to small ball, coach Mike D’Antoni served as a point of inspiration for Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who during his time at Butler was sometimes forced to play with a size disadvantage, as the Rockets are now.
“Where Mike’s always been so great is in spacing,” Stevens said. “When I was at Butler, you had to counter bigger teams all the time. Every one of us watched Mike’s Phoenix Suns teams to try to figure out how we could best do that. He’s always been tremendous at that, and this year is no different.”
Gordon sits again with leg injury
The Rockets on Tuesday were again without guard Eric Gordon ,whois nursing a lower leg injury and hasn’t played since Friday’s loss to the Suns.
Without him, the Rockets miss a long-range shooter and a ballhandler with the ability to get to the rim. But coach Mike D’Antoni expects Austin Rivers and his supporting cast to compensate for that loss until Gordon returns.
Even without Gordon or a traditional center, the Rockets come up big in other ways, said Celtics coach Brad Stevens.
“( James) Harden and ( Russell) Westbrook just make it easier on everybody else, because those other guys are really good players,” Stevens said. “( P. J.) Tucker’s been great the whole time he’s been in Houston. ( Ben) McLemore’s had a great year from a resurgence standpoint. , ( Robert) Covington’s a great pick-up.
“They’ve just got a lot of guys that are good, tough players, so they can play two ways and do all the switching that they want to do. … I think the thing that stands out about them is that it’s really hard to post linebackers.”