It wasn’t nearly the stakes of Michael Jordan’s legendary “flu game” from the 1997 NBA Finals, but what Danuel House Jr. did for the Houston Rockets on Thursday night in Toronto after missing two games due to illness shouldn’t be forgotten any time soon.
The Rockets (14-7) badly needed a win, coming off a controversial and demoralizing loss in San Antonio where they blew a 22-point lead with barely over a quarter to play. That game also went two overtimes, which meant extreme minutes totals for rotation regulars (box score).
P.J. Tucker, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook played 52, 49, and 48 minutes, respectively. Clint Capela played 45, and Austin Rivers 40. The Rockets then arrived in Canada at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, coming off a long international flight from South Texas.
It seemed a classic setup for a “schedule loss,” which is why the 27 minutes that House played off the bench Thursday were so important. He didn’t start, because head coach Mike D’Antoni wasn’t sure how much energy House would have. But House’s 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting (45.5%), including three made three-pointers, were critical to the game’s successful outcome, along with his dependable wing defense.
Danuel House was sick for a week????? He has 16 points one minute into the second quarter.
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) December 6, 2019
House scored 14 of his 16 points in the first quarter, which may have partly been by design. He said postgame that his biggest challenge in successfully playing through illness was trying to maintain enough energy, which made maximizing those early minutes important.
“It’s difficult,” House said of playing through illness. “I’m pretty sure a lot of people around the world know how the flu handles your body.
“It was just trying to garner some energy,” the native Houstonian explained of his challenge. “Starting off, I had enough, and I was just… searching deep within to find some more. “I’m happy my teammates were able to support me and carry me.”
When asked how he was feeling after playing, House didn’t hold back:
I’m weak, so weak. I’m really fatigued, so I can’t to get on the plane and go to sleep.
Play-by-play broadcaster Craig Ackerman said during the game broadcast that House didn’t look well on the flight to Toronto. D’Antoni noted postgame that the 6-foot-6 forward had chills during the game. But House gutted it out, and his early contributions were critical in allowing the Rockets to play with a lead for a majority of the game.
Danuel House still pretty sick. D'Antoni said he had chills during the game. Eyes were slits post-game. House: "Weak. I'm real weak. "
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 6, 2019
His three early makes from three-point range were also crucial in compensating for Toronto’s unique defense against James Harden. With the Raptors aggressively forcing the ball out of Harden’s hands more than 30 feet from the basket and limiting him to a season-low 11 shot attempts, role players such as House needed to take advantage of the resulting four-on-three situations — and they delivered.
“We were just trying to find the best open shot,” House said. “It didn’t matter who took the open shot, we just wanted to make sure that we all were contributing and making the right basketball play to help us win.”
“James, to his credit, didn’t force anything,” D’Antoni said postgame of Harden’s willingness to defer. “He said ‘Okay, double me and my teammates will score tonight,’ and they did it.”
Overall, Houston made 22 of its 55 three-point attempts (40%) as a team. To that point, House seemed surprised that Toronto did not revise its strategy after seeing the Rockets make some of those early looks.
When asked whether he was surprised that head coach Nick Nurse and the Raptors stayed with the strategy, House said:
Yeah. After guys get to hitting a few shots, usually coaches change their defensive schemes. I guess they felt like we were going to cool down. But when you give NBA pros open looks like that, especially the amount of time that we had, guys are going to knock it down all night.
Even though House didn’t score in the second half, he still provided value with defense and his improving ability as a secondary creator. House had three assists in his 27 minutes, including this one on a Tucker three-pointer late in the fourth quarter.
This has been the most impressive part of Danuel House's game this year – his secondary creation.
Instead of forcing a tough paint shot here, he finds PJ Tucker for an open 3. pic.twitter.com/VGgjEKUZwU
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) December 6, 2019
Though Ben McLemore did have a season-high 28 points starting at small forward in House’s place, D’Antoni clarified postgame that there was no debate as to the long-term starter at the position.
“Danuel needs to start,” D’Antoni said.
Depending how he feels, House could return to the starting lineup as soon as the team’s next game — which occurs Saturday against the Phoenix Suns. The Rockets have a two-game homestand coming up versus the Suns and Sacramento Kings, which should allow House to get more rest at home and hopefully complete his medical recovery.
But even while limited, House still made an obvious difference for the Rockets in Thursday’s statement win on the road over the defending NBA champions. As far as regular-season games go, circumstances made this one much bigger than most for the Rockets, and House battled through illness and the associated fatigue to help his weary teammates.
It undoubtedly earned House even more appreciation and respect from those teammates within the locker room. It was also a reminder of just how important he is — especially when healthy — to Houston’s longer-term mission of contending for an NBA title later this season.
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