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On Terrence Jones’ return to the starting lineup

It was only a matter of time before Terrence Jones supplanted Joey Dorsey in the Houston starting lineup.  Since coming back from the nerve issues which derailed his start to the season, Jones has slowly rounded back into form into the player the Rockets hoped he would become.  On the year, he’s now averaging 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in just 24 minutes per game.  Diving deeper into the numbers, we can see how Jones has done his damage.

While he’s shooting 64% from within less than five feet, Jones astoundingly is just 5 for 33 from the field for 15% on all jump shots.  He’s also made just 3 three pointers all season.  What’s more, Jones has taken just two corner threes all season, missing both.  I’ll have to watch more closely now that I’ve seen these numbers, but it seems the Rockets no longer want to use Jones as a ‘stretch 4’ and are allowing him to play a traditional role, to his strengths.  That would make sense: with Dwight Howard sidelined, and Donatas Motiejunas and Josh Smith (sort of) able to provide spacing, there isn’t really that much reason to worry about Jones clogging the paint.

I’ll be curious to see how things play out when Dwight returns.  If these trends continue, it might be indicative of a desire to keep Jones inside the paint at all times.  That would mean less court time with Dwight.

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About the author: Rahat Huq is a lawyer in real life and the founder and editor-in-chief of www.Red94.net.

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