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This doesn’t mean much, but maybe it does(?) with both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant expected to miss the next month of the season. As I noted just last night, the Houston Rockets right now have a very 1993esque feel to them, in that they have a superstar playing at his peak, they’re humbled and locked in, and no one gives a damn about them. That’s certainly not to say that James Harden or Dwight Howard are anywhere comparable to the great Hakeem Olajuwon. But both players, and this team in general, are flying under the radar like that ’94 team did before ripping off 15 straight. There’s no one here shooting underwear ads and making the rounds on every talk show, no point guard controversy. The entire culture seems to have completely transformed over the course of the offseason with the humiliating loss to Portland, and the jettisoning of Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons.
But still, it’s just been three games, and those three games have come against three of the very worst teams the NBA has to offer. So it’s important to remain level-headed. While it would have been fairly alarming had Houston failed to take care of business, aside from scheme and rotation, not much can really be gleaned from these initial exhibitions.
The real tests begin this week. On Monday, Houston will travel to Philadelphia for the bi-annual ‘Analytics Bowl’ as Daryl Morey’s squad will face off against the creation of former deputy Sam Hinkie. The 76ers will be happy with a Rockets win and I’ll be horrified by any other outcome.
Houston then travels to Miami to take on the defending Eastern Conference champions, if they can even be called that in their current state. The Rockets, and Terrence Jones, will square off against Chris Bosh, the man who left them at the altar this summer, dashing their dreams of a super-team. The matchup holds significance for Jones in particular because, after feasting on some of the worst frontlines in the league last week, as he did throughout much of last year, Bosh represents his first true test of the season. It should be a matter of pride, and there’s really no better way to prove you’ve arrived than to outplay the guy with whom your team hoped to replace you.
A sidebar on Jones: Many of you, on Twitter, have mischaracterized my stance on Jones. I’ve been a vocal critic but that’s not because I think he “sucks” or that he’ll never be a good player. He’s going to be a very good player in this league someday, if not already, and will be around for a very long time. My concern is whether he can help this team win now, particularly in the Western Conference. The Rockets already have the league’s best shooting guard and center, so it’s not realistic to expect an advantage at every position, but I worry that Jones represents such a disparity in his matchup, that the surplus production of H&H is offset. Kevin McHale routinely closed games against the league’s best teams last season with Jones on the bench and of course, I don’t need to get into the Portland series to remind you how the matchup with LaMarcus Aldridge played out. But Jones is in his third year now. They don’t need him to put up 25 and 10 like he did last night. All the Rockets need is for TJ to not getting decimated in his matchups against the league’s best. He won’t win the matchup, but he just needs to make smart rotations and provide something on the other end. When he doesn’t, it has a trickle down effect, allowing teams to suffocate Dwight Howard. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the same teams that bother Jones also stifle Howard (LAC, OKC).
Houston then comes home to face the Spurs and Golden State Warriors in a pair of games over the weekend which promise to be highly entertaining. Gregg Popovich will probably sit all of his starters, or pull some other similarly eccentric (but utilitarian) stunt, and the game will still be close. On Saturday, Klay Thompson will continue to try and prove his worth after securing a fresh new contract, facing off against the undisputed best shooting guard in the league. Man, I still can’t believe they didn’t trade him for Kevin Love!
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