Tag: Mike D’Antoni

Rockets credit Russell Westbrook, bench for lifting defensive energy

“Courage and confidence goes a long way, so we try and spread that amongst ourselves,” Harden said. “Especially here and without fans.”

On a night when James Harden and Eric Gordon shot a combined 2-of-21 on 3-pointers (9.5%), the Houston Rockets still won Game 2 over Oklahoma City by double digits — largely due to to their defense.

The undersized Rockets operated their aggressive, switching defense to perfection in the second half, leading to a pair of 16-2 and 20-2 runs over two different periods of seven-plus minutes. The victory gives the Rockets a commanding 2-0 lead in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs, with Game 3 of the best-of-seven series set for Saturday.

Though Russell Westbrook (right quad strain) was again sidelined, television cameras showed him vocally cheering on, supporting, and coaching his teammates from the bench throughout the game.

While Houston’s coaching staff and on-court players deserve the majority of credit for Thursday’s result, the postgame comments by the Rockets suggested that others in the bench area had earned an assist.

In postgame interviews, several team leaders praised the energy that came from the bench in the form of Westbrook, veteran center Tyson Chandler, and active players who weren’t in the game.

“We have to generate our own enthusiasm,” said head coach Mike D’Antoni. “We don’t have fans here, so it’s really up to the bench and the players that will come in to generate the energy we need to get over tough times or fatigue battles. They’ve been great. Russell, Tyson Chandler who hasn’t played, you hear his voice always. You can’t put a premium on that. Russ has been super encouraging. It’s been fantastic.”

“He better be cheering, he’s got nothing else to do,” Harden joked. “Russ is our leader. His communication, his voice matters to us. I’m just so proud of the guys that we played. Defensively, to hold them under 100 points after the first quarter they got [30 points], shows a lot about us.”

It’s quite a performance by a defense that ranked in the middle of the pack at No. 14 overall over the NBA’s 2019-20 regular season. In postgame comments, veteran leader and defensive ace P.J. Tucker said the Rockets were using the lack of size to their advantage by “getting under people” and preventing them from running their plays.

Even when the Rockets were struggling to shoot their usual 3-pointers for long stretches of Thursday’s game, it rarely seemed to take a toll on their energy or focus on the other side of the court. That’s where the energy from the bench seemed to prove especially useful.

During the 20-2 run, which came late in the third quarter and early in the fourth when Harden was on the bench, “The Beard” joined Westbrook, Chandler, and others on the Houston sideline in cheering on his on-court teammates and helping to make up for the absence of fans at the NBA’s Disney World “bubble” in Central Florida.

“That’s what it’s all about,” D’Antoni said. “No matter what, everyone is cheering for the other guy and doing whatever they can do offensively for the other guy. When you have that kind of spirit… it’s great. It’s great to be part of the whole group, James is in there congratulating all the guys on the job they did. That just goes a long, long way. You can’t teach it, it just has to happen. It’s fun at this point.”

At the postgame press conference, Harden explained the dynamic:

We feed off each other. Throughout the entire game, from the jump ball, we’ve got to give each other encouragement and energy. Even when things aren’t going well, we kind of keep giving each other that boost of confidence.

Because our shots are going to [eventually] fall, and defensively we’re going to be active. Courage and confidence goes a long way, so we try and spread that amongst ourselves, our teammates and coaches, and they feed it back to us. It goes a long way, especially here and without the fans.

Harden said Houston’s intensity actually rose to a higher level because of the poor shooting, which forced them to make up for it in other ways.

“When we’re making shots, our swag is way crazier,” Harden said. “But I think our swag is even better when we’re not, because we’ve got to guard and defend, and be on the same page defensively. Our attention is going to be even more when we aren’t making shots.”

Danuel House Jr., who scored a playoff career-high 19 points and led the Rockets with nine rebounds, was a key defensive cog and on the court for most of both second-half runs. He clearly noticed the bench, too.

“We want to make sure that guys are not caring about themselves, so guys are showing great energy on the court and off the court,” House told reporters. “And the guys that are not playing are showing tremendous energy. They’re also being vocal, and they’re communicating with everything that’s going on out there.”

Game 3 between the Rockets and Thunder will tip off at 5:00 p.m. Central on Saturday, with a national broadcast on ESPN and a regional version (with Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest.

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