Clint Capela enjoying historic rebounding run for Rockets

Rockets center Clint Capela is enjoying a nearly unprecedented run of rebounding success, with 19 or more boards in seven straight games.

Houston Rockets center Clint Capela is enjoying an almost unprecedented run of rebounding success.

With 22 rebounds in Sunday’s game (box score) versus Dallas, Capela has now secured at least 19 rebounds in seven consecutive games.

The only other NBA player to post such a streak since 1976 was rebounding legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, who last had one during the 1994-95 season.

On his Instagram account, the 6-foot-10 Capela posted a graphic of his achivement on Monday with the caption “Beyond my wildest dreams. What an honor.” He also added the #BoardMan hashtag.

Capela is currently averaging 14.6 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in 31.9 minutes per game. The only player in Rockets franchise history to have posted averages of at least 14 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks per game in a single season was Hakeem Olajuwon, who did it 30 years ago in the 1989-90 NBA season.

Considering that Olajuwon is a franchise icon, that would be quite an achivement for the 25-year-old big man from Switzerland.

It would also likely unlock an additional $500,000 in his contract, which Capela can earn each season if he exceeds 30% in his defensive rebounding percentage. Right now, per Basketball-Reference data, he’s at 34.5% — which is significantly above the bonus threshold.

Over his current seven-game streak, Capela is averaging 20.3 rebounds per game. That’s more than double the average of 9.6 rebounds he posted over his first eight games.

One guy who has noticed is frontcourt partner P.J. Tucker, who has seen his share of rebounds go down as Capela has picked up his pace.

In the 10 games outside of Capela’s current streak, Houston’s starting power forward is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game. However, in Capela’s run of seven consecutive games with 19 or more rebounds, Tucker’s average has been cut by almost half to 3.9 per game.

After Sunday’s game, the 34-year-old veteran acknowledged with a smile that Capela had taken many of his rebounds — but clarified that he didn’t want to change anything. Tucker said:

He steals a lot of my rebounds. Trust me, I know. Clint’s playing hard. He’s finally in shape. He’s all over the place. We’ll keep him where he’s at because he’s playing really well right now. I like it.

Shortly before this current run, Capela scored a season-low five points and grabbed just seven rebounds in a 29-point Rockets loss at Miami on Nov. 3. Both Capela and the Rockets will have an opportunity to make amends in their next game, which occurs Wednesday night when the Heat (11-4) visit the Rockets (11-6) at Toyota Center in Houston.

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