Eager to cut their losses

Defensive woes, intensity at root of 3-game skid

When the Rockets were winning, they were happy to declare they had rapidly developed an identity, an understanding of how they had to play to be their best. They were not wrong. That makes it easy to diagnose the issues while on a three-game losing streak. Solving them won’t be.

The Rockets have come to understand they cannot have any letup defensively. They must have ball movement, smart shot selection and balanced scoring. But while suffering losses in four of five games heading into Thursday’s home matchup against the Miami Heat, they have cited slippage in the defensive intensity that fueled their sixgame winning streak and rise to the second-rated defense in the NBA.

“The defense has been (…) the last two games,” forward P.J. Tucker said after the Rockets’ second consecutive blowout loss Tuesday at New Orleans. “The communication’s been bad. We weren’t aggressive like we were the games before. Our communication has been horrible, and that was something we were getting better at and was a reason the defense was getting so good. It’s something we’ve got to get back to if we’re going to win.”

There could be other factors in the Rockets’ defensive slump, starting with the absence of Christian Wood at center for the past three games with a sprained ankle that will keep him out for weeks. Their lineup will change Thursday for a fourth consecutive game.

The Rockets had the NBA’s second-ranked defense before their losing streak. They have ranked 23rd in the three games since. This is not a new trend.

In the Rockets’ 11 wins, they have allowed an aver

age of 102.5 points on 42.3 percent shooting and 32.7 percent 3-point shooting. In the 13 losses, opponents have averaged 116.7 points on 47.2 percent shooting and 38 percent 3-point shooting.

While the Rockets’ shooting has been nearly as inconsistent as their lineups, the defense had been reliable, a quality they have come to consider non-negotiable.

“When we were missing shots early on, we still had to defend at a high level,” guard John Wall said. “We’re a good team, but we’re not a great team where we could turn it on whenever we want to.”

Wall said when the Rockets had their six-game winning streak, they “drank a little bit of that water that we shouldn’t have.”

Though a brief winning streak to edge past .500 would not seem enough to get drunk on success, it might have been understandable given the travails that had preceded it since the first day of training camp. But with the Rockets and the way they must play with a team crowded with defense-first rotation players, there cannot be a letup in intensity or focus.

This is not a team that can often 3-ball its way out of sloppy defensive stretches. The Rockets are making just 35.5 percent of their 3s to rank 23rd in the NBA. They believe, however, the offense will flow from getting stops and getting in the open court.

“The problem with us is our defense has been terrible,” Wall said. “Like P.J. said, it’s been (…) the last couple games. We have to get back to being that gritty and grimy team that hits people first and is aggressive. And that lets us get out in transition and be the team we want to be.

“We have to do a better job with communication. That starts with me being the leader of the team and being the point guard and get everybody’s intensity back up.”

Wall was out for the previous three-game losing streak, with the Rockets similarly short-handed in their more recent losses. Wall and Eric Gordon missed Monday’s game in Charlotte. Victor Oladipo sat out Tuesday in New Orleans. Wood was out for all three.

The Rockets will not have another back-to-back, forcing guards to sit out, until Feb. 19-20. But the stretch of five games in seven days prevented them from having a practice, contributing to the struggles.

“It’s hard, but it’s hard on everybody,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “Everybody has the same schedule. Everybody is playing back-to-backs, and everybody has one day in between games. We’re not going to use that as an excuse. We have to do better.”

The Rockets said the compressed schedule teams must handle this season should not have led to the sagging defensive energy.

“Winning makes everything a lot easier,” Wall said. “We know it’s a difficult season, but that’s not an excuse not to go out and compete every night and go out and give 110 percent effort. When you do that, you can live with the results. We you give half (…) effort, you can’t live with the results, because you have in the back of your mind, ‘What could I have done better?’

“The easiest thing we all can do is play hard. We wake up and play the game we love. You can play hard. That’s the easiest thing you can ask for.”