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By: Paul McGuire
James Harden grabbed the third triple double of his career (though to be fair, the Rockets frittered the last two minutes of the game away trying to get Harden the final rebound, and then he nearly lost it to Troy Daniels). Dwight Howard roared back into action after missing nearly a month of basketball and finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds in 30 minutes. But my favorite statistic is that for the first time this season, three Rockets scored more than 20 points in a game. Howard, Harden with 25, and Donatas Motiejunas with a career high 25.
And it was Motiejunas who turned this game around. The Rockets started off slow and fell behind by double digits to Denver by the first quarter. They shot 1 for 10 in the paint during the first quarter, and Houston’s offense seemed confused by Denver’s long arms and athleticism. But Motiejunas scored seven straight points in the second quarter and 13 in that period to spark a Rockets run which would keep them ahead for the rest of the game. Denver attempted a rally late in the third quarter and came within 5, but Houston countered early in the fourth quarter and was not seriously threatened for the rest of the game.
Motiejunas’s success is just as good of a sign for Houston as Dwight’s comeback. There have been concerns about whether Motiejunas would continue to thrive as he has done for the past few weeks with the return of Howard. Would Howard’s return clog up the paint? Would he demand touches which would otherwise go to D-Mo? Would playing two seven-footers work as poorly as it did with Howard and Asik last season?
But there were no problems at all tonight. Motiejunas and Howard did spend a great deal of time not playing alongside one another, but they were also successful otherwise. Motiejunas is nowhere near Asik’s level defensively, but he does not have oven mitts for hands and is a better passer. These Twin Towers function far better compared to Asik and Howard.
Aside from Motiejunas, Howard was a terror tonight. As Houston has continued to thrive defensively even without Howard, there have been questions about whether Howard’s defensive impact is as large as generally assumed. But the difference between Howard and his replacements tonight were obvious to anyone who cared to see. Motiejunas, Joey Dorsey, and Tarik Black may possess some rebounding and defensive capabilities. But when Wilson Chandler is driving to the paint in the third, he does not stop, think again, and then throw an errant pass to Ty Lawson if those players are in front of him. He does do if Howard is in front of him, as he demonstrated in the third quarter.
Howard also dominated Denver’s big men by keeping them in continual foul trouble. Nuggets backup center Jusuf Nurkic fouled out after playing just 18 minutes, and starting center Timofey Mozgov picked up 5 fouls in 14 minutes. The fouls may keep Dwight on the line, where he shot just 8-17 from the charity stripe tonight. However, even the best centers have no value if they cannot stay on the court - something Rockets fans know all too well with Yao Ming. The fouls also get Houston in the penalty earlier, a terrific combination with Harden and his foul-drawing ways.
As for Harden? It should be noted that Howard’s return barely reduced Harden’s and Ariza’s minutes. But not all minutes are created equal. Harden’s reputation as a miserable defender resulted because he had a tendency to rest and lose track of his man while playing defense. While he played a lot tonight, he was not as active nor did he touch the ball as often as he did over the past several games. This is a good thing – it will ensure that Harden has a moment to catch his breath and does not collapse later this season under the immense burden he has had to carry this year.
December will continue to be a challenging stretch for the Rockets, but the team has developed from its battle with injuries and the team will continue to grow healthier over the coming days. Canaan will likely be ready by the next game on Wednesday and Papanikolaou is possible as well.
Smart man.
