Kendrick Perkins on Rockets: ‘What they do offensively is brilliant’

Despite his personal background as a traditional center, Kendrick Perkins explains why he’s all in on Houston’s small-ball approach.

In a Tuesday appearance on ESPN‘s The Jump, former NBA center and current league analyst Kendrick Perkins said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Houston Rockets win the Western Conference.

Perkins, who was teammates with Houston stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden for multiple seasons in Oklahoma City, said he attended the final two Rockets home games before the All-Star break versus the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics. Here’s a sampling of his review:

I’ve been very critical of Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey, but they are on to something.

What they do over there offensively is brilliant. They’re spacing the court and saying ‘Hey, we have two former MVPs in their prime. Stop ’em!’ And they can’t.

And I was more impressed by their defensive energy, by the way. I’m telling you, they’re playing with a different type of swag. You can feel the energy. At first I [didn’t] know, but it’s dangerous.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it to the Finals.

Perkins’ comments are even more noteworthy given his personal history as a traditional NBA big man. In an era where many centers-turned-analysts often lament the lack of post play or rim protection in today’s game, Perkins is a believer in Houston’s unconventional approach.

In three games since the Feb. 5 trade of traditional big Clint Capela — and with versatile defensive ace and corner 3-point specialist P.J. Tucker starting at center, instead — Westbrook has scored at least 36 points in each game on 54% or better shooting.

That matches the longest such streak in the NBA in over 20 years. The last player to do it for four games was Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, who did so in November 1999. He was that season’s MVP.

Prior to last Tuesday’s win over Boston, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens referred to Westbrook as “like a jet engine flying into the paint.”

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“Internally, we don’t think it’s small ball,” Westbrook said about the lineup. “We just play our personnel and go compete, and that’s it.”

Over his last 14 outings, the 31-year-old Westbrook is averaging 34.0 points (53.0% shooting), 8.1 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game. That makes him the NBA’s No. 2 overall scorer over that span on a per-game basis, trailing only Portland’s Damian Lillard (35.5).

During that 14-game span, Westbrook leads the NBA by far with an average of 25.3 drives per game. Prior to that period, the 2017 MVP ranked No. 6 in the league at 18.2 drives per game.

“Obviously, with this style of playing, different guys on the floor have to be able to guard in a lot of space, which is to my advantage,” Westbrook said during his All-Star Media Day. “We’re moving in the right direction. I’m happy where we are, and I’m happy where we’re headed.”

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As for Harden, after going through a lengthy slump in January, the 2018 MVP has scored 40 or more points in three of his six games in February, and he’s exceeded 47% shooting from the field in four of them. He’s also averaging 8.3 assists per game this month, up from 6.5 in January.

For the 2019-20 season to date, Harden leads the league in scoring by a wide margin at 35.3 points per game.

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Harden, Westbrook, and the rest of the Rockets (34-20) return to action on Thursday night at Golden State (12-43). That game tips off at 9:30 p.m. Central, with an exclusive national broadcast on TNT.

Houston has won five of its last seven games, and it could be six if not for a stunning buzzer-beater by Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic.

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