The sudden and historic turnaround for the 2021-22 Houston Rockets, who entered Friday’s home game versus defending NBA champion Milwaukee with seven consecutive wins, is statistically about offense.
Through Nov. 23, Houston ranked No. 30 overall — dead last in the league — on offense with a 97.3 rating. At the time, the Rockets were 1-16 with 15 straight losses. But since moving Christian Wood to center and flanking him with shooters and playmakers at the other four spots, the Rockets have soared to an offensive rating of 118.6, good for No. 3 in the NBA over that span. Not coincidentally, they’re 7-0 during those games.
Defensively, they’ve held relatively stable in rating, even after removing Daniel Theis from the lineup for the benefits of floor spacing on offense. They are No. 16 after the changes with a 111.4 defensive rating, as compared to a 108.2 rating (No. 19 overall) in the earlier 17 games.
But as head coach Stephen Silas sees it, some of the improvement on offense can be attributed to growth on defense. Besides going smaller, injuries to young guards Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. have allowed the Rockets to play wings like Eric Gordon and Garrison Mathews for even longer stretches, which may be helping the team’s perimeter defense.
In comments prior to Friday’s game, Silas attempted to make a connection between offense and defense — and in the process, he gave quite a compliment to veteran guard Eric Gordon.
Our defense is so important because it keys our offense. It keys our breaks, it keys our pace up the floor. Having the ability to guard guys, one on one, is huge. When you add that help defender in, it really distorts your defense to where there are drive and kicks, and help and recover.
To have Jae’Sean (Tate) who, for the most part, can guard his guy, and Eric Gordon, who’s the best in the league right now at guarding his guy. And Garrison (Mathews) being able to guard his guy, it really limits the amount of help that we have to give, and it keeps us body on body when it comes to rebounds, and it limits our closeouts to the great shooters. The more we can do that, the better.
To Silas’ point, Gordon entered Friday with the best defensive field-goal percentage allowed (31.8%) of any player who has defended at least 100 shots this season, per Dave Hardisty of ClutchFans.
Eric Gordon is shooting 43.6% from three this year. He also has the best defensive FG% (.318) of any player who has defended at least 100 shots this season. pic.twitter.com/lKIwlmNK1L
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) December 10, 2021
Down the road, that could make Gordon an attractive trade chip for the Rockets, since his age (turning 33 years old on Christmas) isn’t in perfect alignment with Houston’s rebuilding timeline. In addition to the terrific defense, Gordon has improved his 3-point shooting from 32.9% last season to 43.6% this year, which could make him a very attractive “3&D” option for contenders. From the perspective of the Rockets (8-16), should this level of play continue, Gordon might a future draft asset or two that could be in better alignment with their rebuilding plan.
But for Silas and the Rockets, that’s a conversation for another day — likely for closer to February’s trade deadline. For now, the Rockets are reaping the rewards from Gordon’s much improved play on both ends of the court, and he’s been an essential component in the winning streak.
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