Player A: 28.3 points per game on 20.6 shots, 5.4 assists, 24.2 PER, .576 TS%, .208 WS/48, +7.0 on/off Splits.
Player B: 26.9 points per game on 18.0 shots, 7.0 assists, 26.9 PER, .608 TS%, .270 WS/48, +11.7 on/off Splits.
Player A is Kobe Bryant in 2007-08, when he won his only MVP (which he should not have won, but I will digress). Player B is Harden this year.
Oh, and tonight Harden picked up his third triple-double of the season, scored 38 points, and led an 18-0 run in the fourth quarter which all but ended the game with 5 minutes left. Just Harden stuff.
As great as Harden is, even he is not capable of winning a game entirely by himself. The Rockets needed to make sure that Detroit’s big men did not run amok like they did in the last contest between these two teams, a Pistons victory. They also had to keep Reggie Jackson from scoring at will just like D.J. Augustin did last time.
The Rockets managed to accomplish both tasks – and in words which I thought I would never utter this season, the Rockets might need more Joey Dorsey. Unusual times may require unusual measures, but with Howard out and Motiejunas slumping hard, Dorsey and Jones stepped in to stop Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe.
As our own Robert Dover pointed out a few weeks ago, Dorsey has some advantages. He is quick for a center, has good hands, and has a very solid base. Longer-time Rockets fans may remember how the beloved Chuck Hayes anchored Houston’s defense for multiple seasons. Dorsey is nowhere as smart on the defensive end compared to the Chuckwagon, but there are similarities. Dorsey managed to body up Drummond for much of the game and keep the offensively challenged center off tilt. While Drummond managed to grab 21 rebounds over Dorsey, Dorsey still won by forcing him into a 4-16 shooting performance.
And then there is Terrence Jones. Houston’s second-best player has fluctuated from Howard to Motiejunas to Smith throughout the season, but I would have to say that Jones has been that player over the last few games. There was a brief scare early in the second quarter when he left for the locker with what appeared to be a right hip strain, but he came back with a minute left in that quarter and scored a three-point play before halftime. Jones’s versatility is a huge asset for a Rockets team that at times seems to compartmentalize its players – there are the shooters, there is the superstar Harden, there is the low-post Motiejunas and so on. I realize that this invites further comparisons with Josh Smith, but I would note two differences. First, Smith has a real knack for the pass and finding the open man which Jones does not have and probably never will. On the other hand, Jones does not have Smith’s three-point problem. And Smith’s three-point shooting has fallen back to Josh Smith levels after that hot spurt last month.
Now, as for Motiejunas. After scoring over some of the best defensive big men in the league this season, it was disheartening to watch Motiejunas fail to struggle over “one foot out of the NBA” Anthony Tolliver. If that was not enough, Motiejunas got into foul trouble in the first half and played just 19 minutes tonight. While Houston’s hopes for Motiejunas are far higher now compared to the start of the regular season, the past order has reasserted itself. Like he did last year, Jones currently appears to be the better of the two.
In light of Motiejunas’s struggles, I believe Rockets fans should understand what should be expected from him. Motiejunas in past interviews has compared himself to Luis Scola, and their games bear similarities. Comparing Motiejunas to a younger version of Scola can show where he needs to improve in comparison to Scola and the league. Motiejunas’s differences from Scola, where he could learn from the former Rockets forward, and how he is similar – but he can start by stealing a march on Scola and play the defense he showed earlier this season. That would represent a change from his past few games.
With 20 games left, the Rockets are 42-20. That is one game behind the Rockets team from last year which had a healthy Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons in place of Trevor Ariza. Furthermore, the defense focus of this team should reduce variability and prevent any slump like that which killed the Rockets last year. And as Morey pointed out around the trade deadline, the Rockets have never had a fully healthy lineup. Either Jones or Howard have been injured aside from the very beginning, at which point Houston had not obtained Brewer and Smith.
Tonight was a solid win over an inferior team thanks to another MVP performance from Harden and a sound defensive game from Jones and Dorsey. Sometimes that is all you need.
