For a bulk of the first half of the season, the Rockets were second only to the Oklahoma City Thunder in defensive rating, which helped propel Houston up the Western Conference standings.
However, Houston has experienced slippage of late, sliding to fourth in defensive rating while dropping six consecutive games before beating the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. That contest kicked off a three-game homestand prior to the All-Star break that continues on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.
Some of the defensive decline can be linked to injuries, notably the loss of forward Jabari Smith Jr. (hand), who last played on Jan. 1.
Houston was 17th in defensive rating in January and is 15th this month. A rash of changes to the rotation has weakened the Rockets, with guard Fred VanVleet (ankle) also sidelined while All-Star center Alperen Sengun (back) will be a game-time decision against the Suns after departing in the first quarter against Toronto on Sunday.
The Rockets also have regressed concerning their communication on defense, an issue they hope to get resolved during the break.
“Certain guys are always on point with it, others need to get up to speed with it,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “But it’s always hard for you to direct traffic around when you’re struggling to recognize what’s going on yourself. The more comfortable guys are and the more accustomed to certain coverages they’re seeing — schemes and stuff we’re talking about — they can communicate to their teammates earlier and we can all be on the same string there.
“We’ve had ups and downs. I think the lack of practice time has hurt our communication and we’ve had some slippage there. But film sessions are a little longer this time of year, and with rest off the court, we’ll get back to where we were earlier in the year.”
The Suns dropped one game under .500 with a 119-112 home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, continuing what is spiraling into an underwhelming campaign.
Confirming their disappointing play during the first half were reports that the Suns shopped All-Star forward Kevin Durant, who on Tuesday became the eighth player in NBA history to surpass 30,000 career points, at the trade deadline.
Durant ultimately remained in Phoenix, but given the presence of Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on their roster, the Suns had higher hopes than lingering among the teams fighting for a berth in the postseason play-in tournament.
Unable to make wholesale changes, the Suns are left focusing on things they can control.
“I always start with us being good defensively,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think (we must) continue to grow on that end of the court. I think the continued emphasis on rebounding (is key). We’ve got to finish the possessions, we’ve got to be better there. When we’re active and when we’re communicating and we’re connected, that’s when we’re best defensively. And then running off of it. Running with our spacing. Our running habits have to be solid or perfect.
“When we’re moving the ball, when we’re finding threes (we thrive). And, can we improve our ability to go get offensive boards? It’s kind of a cycle. We need to be good in that whole cycle.”
Durant did his part on Tuesday, returning from a three-game absence caused by a sprained left ankle to score 34 points on his milestone night. Still, the Suns lost for the fifth time in six games.
Durant said of joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain in the 30,000-point club, “A true honor to be in the same category as those players who helped shaped the game and push the game forward.”
–Field Level Media
