Porter has key defensive stop
As with many players so young and inexperienced, Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr.’s defense has been behind his offense. The Mavericks on Wednesday often seemed to target him, and that made his final defensive stop as encouraging as it was important.
If John Wall’s five-point run after the Mavericks rallied to tie the game was key and Christian Wood’s dunk in the final minute capped the win, Porter Jr.’s play to stuff a jumper by Dorian Finney-Smith and take it the other way for a breakaway slam with a minute left was the knockout punch.
“It just shows you the competitive nature that he has inside of him,” guard D.J. Augustin said. “He’s so talented. Sometimes guys that are so young and talented like that, they don’t have to play as hard or they don’t have to bring that same intensity and focus to the game. But he showed last night, not only does he have that but he can also bring that mental part. Once he puts all that together, he’s going to be a scary player in this league.
“On losing teams or teams with a bunch of young guys, sometimes they quit or sometimes they just want to score. To see him do it on both sides of the floor, it was a big thing for his development.”
Porter’s skills and athleticism have led the Rockets to prioritize giving him consistent playing time, keeping him in the starting lineup with Wall’s return on Wednesday. He and Ja Morant are the only second-year players in the NBA averaging at least 15 points, six assists and three rebounds. But some of the same attributes could allow him to become an effective defensive player.
“He takes pride in it,” Wood said of Porter’s defense. “He’s a young, tremendous player on both sides of the floor. He can do it. He just has to keep that up and we’re going to be great.”
That hope is so much a part of the Rockets’ hopes for him that guard Avery Bradley discussed it with Porter on Thursday.
“There was one defensive possession that he had on Luka (Doncic) in the fourth quarter; it was just incredible,” Bradley said. “It shows his potential. I was laughing with him this morning. I told him, I said, ‘Man, you can be an elite defender if you want to. You just have to have that mindset.’ ”
Bradley embraces defensive role
Rockets guard Avery Bradley was certain his shooting touch will come around, having already seen signs in the past three games. He believed his defense, the strength of his game throughout 11 seasons was not just as strong as ever, but as elite any in the NBA.
“I know that’s going to be one of my roles here,” Bradley said. “I’m always going to embrace that. I know defensively, there’s no one in the NBA who can do what I can do. Every opportunity I can get to show that here I’m going to go out there and give it 100 percent because … I don’t think there’s anyone in the NBA that can guard these guys like I can.”
Limited to just 10 games with the Miami Heat and none since Jan. 27 (the only game he had played since Jan. 9,) Bradley struggled with his shot in his first games with the Rockets after acquired at the March 25 trade deadline. He made 3 of 16 3-pointers in his first three games with the Rockets but has gone 4 of 9 on 3s in the three games since.
“I feel good,” Bradley said. “Obviously, I haven’t been able to shoot the ball as well as I wanted to. But I mean, I haven’t played basketball in almost two months. I know it’s a process, similar to us learning as a team right now. It’s a process. It’s not anything that’s going to happen overnight. I think you just have to keep chipping away.
“For myself, I’m making sure I’m staying in the gym, getting the proper work in. I know the hard work is going to kick in. My body feels great. My mind is in a great place. I know everything else will work out.”
Practice after win makes perfect
The Rockets on Thursday did something they had not since Feb. 1. They practiced the day after a win.
Their three previous wins were part of back-toback games and they were off between games in Oklahoma City. With the compressed schedule, practiced time has been limited, with Thursday’s a rare chance to reinforce what went well.
“Any practice that you have after a win, especially a good win is going to be spirited and the guys are going to be more locked in to all aspects of it, whether it’s the film, the stretching, whether it’s the actual drills that we do or getting shots up after,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “It’s much more spirited.”
Eric Gordon and Danuel House Jr. are both still out, and David Nwaba is out for the season. Guard John Wall will miss Friday’s game because of “injury management” for his Achilles.
“When we have our full compliment of players or even close, we have something to build on,” Silas said. “We’re not searching for different combinations that work and different lineups. What we want to draw from last night was the defensive mindset we had, the adaptability we had as far as changing defenses and the spirit … of the group.”