I have never been much of a fan of Donatas Motiejunas.
Motiejunas has shown flashes of potential throughout his career, but so does nearly every young player in the league. However, he has never had a truly reliable jump shot, his defense has been inconsistent if not outright bad, and he has seemed to lack the physical toughness to just hang around in the NBA. Even Motiejunas’s biggest asset, his post arsenal, is a tool of questionable value in a league where double teaming the post has become more prevalent over the past few seasons.
Well, maybe Motiejunas is developing after all. Harden had one of his best games against this defensive Memphis team, and Jason Terry continues his rejuvenation flight this season. But it was Motiejunas and the rest of the Houston big men who did enough to blow this game open against one of the best teams in the league and end it by the third quarter.
It was not just Motiejunas. Tarik Black recorded the first double-double of his career, and Joey Dorsey actually looked like he belonged in the NBA with his defense and two ferocious second quarter dunks. The Memphis Grizzlies did manage to shoot over 50 percent over the entire game, but Dorsey, Black, and Motiejunas just outworked Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to get every rebound they could find. The Rockets finished the first quarter with more offensive rebounds than the Grizzlies had defensive boards! They also handedly won the turnover battle – while the Grizzlies finished with 20 turnovers compared to 19 for the Rockets, this was due to sloppy fourth quarter play by the garbage time unit. Marc Gasol, who has been praised so much for his passing on his MVP campaign this season, finished with 3 assists and 3 turnovers.
But Motiejunas in particular was spectacular. He limited Zach Randolph in the first quarter and then even managed to guard the much bigger Gasol and Kosta Koufos when Houston went to its small-ball lineup with Papanikolau at the power forward slot and Motiejunas at center. The Rockets did help Motiejunas with the double team, but Motiejunas still managed to stay with the Memphis big men and keep them from taking over the game. He also continued his trend of staying out of foul trouble, a marked departure from how he seemed to be making early visits to the bench every other night in past seasons. On the offensive end, Motiejunas was Houston’s second option tonight. The Rockets guards actively looked to involve him in the post, and he finished with 15 points on 10 shots. He even had a Dreamshake on Koufos during the second quarter. Thanks to Houston’s incredible defense and the work of their big men, Jarnell Stokes, the 35th pick of this year’s draft, finished as Memphis’s second highest scorer with 12 points.
There should be a word of caution amidst the celebration of Motiejunas’s stellar play over the past few games. He has had stints in the past where he appears to be making the leap into a NBA player, and Coach McHale has inserted Motiejunas into the starting lineup in the past. But after playing well for some time, Motiejunas always regressed and slid back to his old weaknesses. Past performances do not always predict future results, and Motiejunas just turned 24 a few months ago. But more time needs to pass before we know whether D-Mo has finally turned the corner.
In other news, Clint Capela also recorded his NBA debut tonight, and showed both his potential as well as the fact that he is nowhere near ready to play in the NBA on a regular basis. Capela has long arms and the length to be a great shot-blocker and defensive player in a few years down the road, but his offensive instincts need serious work. Houston actively attempted to feed him down the stretch for some reason, and Capela missed all six of his shots, two free throws, and had two horrible turnovers where he tried to make passes with no room. Capela, Nick Johnson, and Troy Daniels came out and showed in garbage time that all three of them have a great deal of work to do until they can make a NBA rotation. Daniels probably had the most egregious mistake out of all three of them: with Memphis looming uncomfortably close during the final two minutes, Daniel took a three pointer with 20 seconds left on the clock, right when Houston needed to buy some time. It is good to have youth, but it’s far too easy to demand that they play before we see what these young players are truly made of.
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