When the Rockets moved to their small lineup – a change that considering the time Clint Capela had missed was more of a tweak than the monumental transformation it was said to be – they did not get smaller at all.
They did when Capela went out and no one taller than 6-foot-6 started. That was before the trade for Robert Covington and the high-profile game with the towering Lakers on the night of the trade deadline. But Covington moved into the starting lineup the next night.
Covington is three inches shorter than Capela. Danuel House Jr., who had moved into the starting lineup when Capela went out, is three inches taller than Eric Gordon. On average, the height of the Rockets’ starting lineup was exactly as it was before they ‘went small.’
This time, when the Rockets are said to be going from small to smaller, they really are.
Gordon, however, is not replacing House in the starting lineup because House was just too large for the Rockets’ tastes.
It does demonstrate the Rockets’ firm belief that the motivation for the move to play center-less basketball, to spread the floor with wide-open spaces for their stars and others, will work.
“We’ll do what we do,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “If we do it well, we’ll be a handful for anybody.
“Whether you’re big, small, we’re coming at you with what we got.”
That does speak to the Rockets’ latest lineup change. Though considering that Gordon, the 2016-17 Sixth Man of the Year, has started more often than he has come off the bench in his career including 111 of his 246 games with the Rockets, it is more of a shift than a real change.
Gordon’s range extends the spacing for James Harden and Russell Westbrook to exploit. His ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim allows him to use all that room, too.
D’Antoni, however, described the switch as about maximizing both Gordon and House, who has split time starting and in reserve almost evenly in his three NBA seasons.
Even when Gordon starts, he is basically one of the second unit shooting guards in a three-guard lineup with Westbrook and Austin Rivers.
D’Antoni likes to get Gordon back on the floor when Harden sits. If Gordon comes off the bench and stays in the game until Harden rests and returns, that is too long of a stretch. By starting, he can sit and return and play while fresh.
“We’re starting Eric,” D’Antoni said when asked the factors that will go into a decision he had already made. “That’s how we want to go and it doesn’t really matter. We had Danuel play 30 minutes (on Friday.) Whether he starts or he doesn’t, he’s younger so he can play 30 minutes within a 36-minute game (when the first six minutes of each half go to the starters) because if you don’t start you lose those minutes and you rest him for no reason.
“Eric, we need him to be able to start for that reason and also to bring him out so he’s fresh when he’s back in with Russell. It doesn’t really matter.”
House, meanwhile, seems able to play through long stretches without showing signs of fatigue.
Though it is foolish to read too much into any preseason game, much less a scrimmage coming after a hiatus of more than four months in which five-on-five play between NBA players was prohibited, House on Friday did look prepared for the demands of his revised duties.
He played a game-high 31 minutes, making 7 of 11 shots to score 18 points. He initiated offense on several possessions, driving to draw the defense and leading to a series of passes to wide-open 3s.
Coming off the bench for him should not be considered a demotion, any more than it was for Gordon in 2016-17. House can play as much in that role than he would as a starter. He played slightly more minutes in a 40-minute scrimmage on Friday than he averaged this season. If he plays well, neither Luc Mbah a Moute or DeMarre Carroll, who were both unavailable on Friday, are likely to cut into his playing time. The Rockets have a nine-man rotation without either veteran forward in the mix.
The greater question for the Rockets will be who finishes games. Gordon most often will be on the floor with Harden, Westbrook, Covington and P.J. Tucker, but Rivers and House could be in that mix. Jeff Green might be an option based on late-game matchups.
Those sorts of decisions don’t factor into meaningless scrimmages. They might not be significant considerations in the eight seeding games, with the Rockets more interested in using those games to prepare for the post-season than to improve playoff positioning.
For now, the goal is to get Harden and Westbrook ready, Gordon sharper and keep House playing as he did on Friday.
If they can do that, it really won’t matter if House’s name is introduced with the starters.
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