Recent improvement built to last?
The Rockets’ homestand against teams fighting for playoff spots or positioning moves to a game against a team they helped out Wednesday.
The Pelicans have struggled lately, losing eight of their past 11 games including Tuesday’s game against the Lakers. But the Rockets moved them back to within a half game of the Lakers for a play-in spot with Wednesday’s win against L.A. at Toyota Center.
The Rockets close the homestand with three games in four nights, the first two against the Pelicans on Friday and Sunday, providing another chance to show if the improvement they have shown since the All-Star break is real or can last.
They took one of their worst losses of the season in the previous meeting with the Pelicans, trailing 45-22 after the opening quarter. They rallied for a stretch in the fourth quarter to make the loss seem better but have lost six of seven games to the Pelicans including their past five meetings.
Here are five things to watch when the Rockets play the Pelicans:
Paintball
There has been little change in the Rockets’ struggles to knock down 3pointers, but since they have had to rely on paint scoring, they have pushed that to extremes.
Sixth in the NBA in scoring in the paint this season, the Rockets have scored the most points inside since the All-Star break by a wide margin. They have averaged 63.6 points in the paint in those 11 games after scoring 78 against the Lakers on Wednesday, their most in four quarters this season.
The Lakers started a small lineup with Anthony Davis out, starting 6-foot-9 Jarred Vanderbilt at center, as the Rockets made 66.1 percent of their shots in the paint.
At the same time, the Rockets have defended better inside, allowing just 45.5 points in the paint per game since the All-Star break.
They need to dominate inside to make up for averaging the second fewest 3s and allowing the most 3s in the league. But when it comes to attacking the basket, their strength has gotten stronger.
“This season, we were thinking we were going to be a 3-point shooting team and we’re a paint team,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “We need to get the ball into the paint. We’re taking that identity as far as driving the ball, offensive rebounding and getting out in transition and running with it.”
Scooting
Last season, Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum, then with the Trail Blazers, offered advice to the Rockets’ young guards, telling them to focus more on getting the ball where they need it to be.
That has been the area in which Jalen Green has improved, despite misfiring in the past three games. And it was the way in which Kevin Porter Jr. perhaps has never been better than in his past two games, the wins against the Celtics and Lakers.
Against Boston, he had 13 assists with one turnover. Against Los Angeles, he had 27 points with six assists, making 11 of 16 shots. In both games, he was under control, probing the defense to create scoring chances.
“He was great, right from the start,” Silas said of Porter’s play Wednesday. “He was aggressive. He was getting to the rim. He was making plays for his teammates. The pressure applied didn’t bother him at all. And then the rebounding, he got on the offensive glass. He played a solid, complete game.”
Second helpings
The Rockets’ second unit took over for most of the fourth quarter in the most recent meeting with the Pelicans, making the loss look far less lopsided than it had been early. But the Rockets’ bench has been almost entirely reworked since then. It has shown signs lately of coming around.
K.J. Martin, who had 16 points against the Pelicans in January, making all seven of his shots, has started the past 28 games. Garrison Mathews and Bruno Fernando were traded. TyTy Washington Jr. is in the G League. But the retooled bench has been relatively efficient since the All-Star break, with Jae’Sean Tate (who did not play in New Orleans) and Josh Christopher especially on a nice roll.
Tate has scored in double figures in nine of 10 games, averaging 12.6 points on 52.7 percent shooting. After making 5 of 6 shots to score 12 points in 13 minutes on Wednesday, Christopher has had 10 games with at least 10 points in his past 20 games, after scoring in double figures just once all season. He has made 51.1 percent of his shots in that stretch, including 40.5 percent of 3s.
Silas has shortened his bench a tad with only Tari Eason and Usman Garuba also playing regularly. But since the All-Star break, the Rockets’ reserves have averaged 36.9 points on 47.9 percent shooting, 36.7 percent from the 3-point line.
Rebounding
Wins in four of seven games might not qualifying as a rebound from what had been the league’s worst record (second worst now,) but the Rockets have rebounded well in other ways.
In addition to their season-long success on the offensive boards, where they send reinforcements to chase second-chance points (and lead the NBA in second-chance scoring), they have improved on their defensive rebounding.
Since the All-Star break, they have been second in defensive rebounding percentage, and first in overall rebounding percentage. Before the break, they were 10th in defensive rebounding percentage.
Wednesday, the Rockets outrebounded the Lakers, 51-36. They have outrebounded their opponent by double-digits in four of their past five games and a league-high 23 times overall this season. All but two of the Rockets 17 wins have come when outrebounding their opponent.
No Zion, but …
With Zion Williamson, who did not play in the Pelicans’ win against the Rockets and has played in just four games in his career against them, the Pelicans offense was a powerful force, especially in the lane.
Since he last played Jan. 2, the Pelicans have ranked 26th offensively. But with Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy III and McCollum, the Pelicans are also capable of delivering strong offensive performances.
Ingram, who did not play against the Rockets in January, returned to the lineup after missing 29 games, and is one of five players averaging at least 22 points and 4.5 assists while making at least 38 percent of his 3s.