Troubled Rockets try to right ship against Orlando.
Luck hard to come by amid stumbling start
Even ignoring the slow-burning fuse that was lit with James Harden’s desire to be traded, the Rockets had such an intricate obstacle course of issues to navigate that a stumbling start seemed inevitable.
If there were only one issue — or two, or three — things might have gone differently.
Instead, in a season with a new coach, revised system and revamped roster, the Rockets have staggered from setback to setback. They often have looked disjointed and mistake-prone defensively and inefficient and inaccurate offensively.
They begin a homestand Friday against the Orlando Magic (6-2) without having had a practice day in the condensed schedule to make needed improvements. They then play two games at home (Sunday and Tuesday) against the champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Through six games, that has been the story of the Rockets in 2020-21. One impediment after another has left themwaiting until they can come together.
Harden missed the first week of training camp. P. J. Tucker missedmuch of that week. Harden and Tucker missed the first two preseason games. Harden was fined and ordered into four days of quarantine in the first week of the season.
John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon were sent to seven days of quarantine. Ben McLemore has been out all season after a COVID test required self-isolating.
The Rockets did not have enough players to play the season opener or practice the previous day or in the following days before playing their first two games with seven players out.
Danuel House Jr. has missed
two games and is still out with a back injury. Christian Wood is out with a sore knee.
The Rockets have had their preferred starting lineup together just once.
“Very hard, very hard,” coach Stephen Silas said of his revolving-door rotation. “We’ve had six games, and we’ve had five starting lineups. It would have been nice to have House and C-Wood. We had more than enough to win.”
As much as injuries and absences are part of the NBA, especially with the league’s current health and safety protocols, the Rockets have hadwaves of issues in a season requiring time to work through the changes.
“Very tough,” Harden said. “There’s no consistency, so we can’t catch any rhythm.
“The effort is there. The execution isn’t great, where we want it to be.”
There is a sense that as much as the Rockets have missed the abilities of the players who have been out, they have been sidetracked more by the lack of continuity amid the dearth of practice time, preventing them from building chemistry.
“For sure, we’re still figuring each other out, some guys being out because of quarantine … some guys being out for injuries, other reasons,” Wall said. “But when we have a full team, we’re talented, and we still have a lot of games right now.”
The Rockers have not shot well enough — they rank 27th in 3-point percentage — to overcome their other deficiencies. Their defense, which ranks 24th, has improved to inconsistent. The rebounding remains among the worst in the NBA, with the Rockets ranking 28th in defensive rebounding percentage and 29th in second- chance points allowed.
“We got to get better one- on- one,” Wall said. “We’re ( giving up) too much straight-line drives, getting to the rim and scoring on us.”
Making the needed defensive revisions ideally would entail time together, but that will remain lacking. The challenge will be to do that in shootarounds, video sessions and games.
“When you have smart guys, when you have talented guys, it’s possible,” Silas said. “If the learning curve were super steep and we didn’t have guys who can adapt to that learning curve, then I would say it might be a problem. But I feel really good about the players that we have and their ability to learn, whether it is a walk-through or a film session or whatever else.”
Still, there is not much time for growing pains. With the Rockets 2-4 heading into Friday’s game against the Magic, they lead only the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference, and those teams are missing their best players: Ja Morant and Karl-Anthony Towns, respectively.
The Rockets have briefly been without stars, and Harden has struggled badly in his two games since returning from a sprained ankle. But their troubles have not stemmed from any one injury or absence but from a relentless string of stumbling blocks.
“We got set back a little bit with training campand then a lot of guys being out the first two games of the season,” Wall said. “But every game we’ve been in and competed very hard.
“We never can control injuries or somebody being out with COVID protocols. I think coach has been doing a heck of a job with the players. We have to … find ways to get the chemistry going. I believe in everything he’s brought to us so far, and I believe we have a chance to be something special. We just have to find ways to work out the kinks.”