Mike D’Antoni laughs at concerns over Ben McLemore’s bench splits

Houston isn’t concerned by numbers showing Ben McLemore as worse off the bench, and his big game Saturday as a reserve proved them right.

Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni never seemed bothered by early-season shooting splits showing Ben McLemore as a worse shooter when coming off the bench. Saturday’s win over Phoenix would appear to be strong evidence that he was right in his lack of concern.

In 30 minutes off the bench, McLemore made 10-of-15 shots (66.7%) from the field against the Suns, including 5-of-9 (55.6%) behind the three-point arc. His total of 27 points was just one shy of his season high, which he set Thursday with 28 points in a start at Toronto.

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Unlike Thursday, though, Saturday’s game had Danuel House Jr. back in the starting lineup at small forward, now that he’s almost fully recovered from his recent illness. At 6-foot-6, House is three inches taller than McLemore and offers the Rockets more length and versatility on defense. In turn, that swap pushed McLemore back to his usual bench role.

When asked postgame Saturday whether it was reassuring to see McLemore succeed off the bench, D’Antoni chuckled and said it wasn’t, because he never put much stock into those numbers to begin with.

No, because it’s only you guys [reporters] that thought he had to start. He’s fine. He might go back. He might start and not have a good game. He said it doesn’t matter, and he’s a pretty honest guy.

I’m glad he did [shoot well off the bench], just to quiet it all down now. We’re all good.

Last week, Rockets GM Daryl Morey was similarly dismissive of McLemore’s early-season shooting splits in his responses to a series of tweets showing the discrepancy.

By the numbers, the splits issue isn’t totally gone. Even with Saturday’s big game off the bench, McLemore is still shooting 34.1% overall and 28.8% on three-pointers as a reserve during the 2019-20 season — as compared to 47.1% and 41.3% as a starter. But at 22 games, it’s certainly a small sample and not all that statistically significant.

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For his part, McLemore said postgame that his job doesn’t change, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. When asked if there’s a difference in starting or playing as a reserve, the 26-year-old said:

Of course, but my job is to still go out there and do what I’m supposed to do and that’s guard, run the floor, knock down open shots, and defend.

After signing with the Rockets in the offseason, the former 2013 NBA Draft lottery pick also credited his new teammates with helping to build his confidence — which may have been shaken at times during six up-and-down seasons on losing teams in Sacramento and Memphis.

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McLemore will face off against his former Sacramento team on Monday night when the Rockets (15-7) wrap up a two-game homestand at Toyota Center against the Kings (8-13). With House healthy, McLemore will almost certainly come off the bench again in that game.

But if Saturday’s performance is any indication, that’s not something that the Rockets or McLemore are at all concerned about moving forward.