Houston Rockets: Falling short in NOLA comes with an upside

Starting a road trip off with a loss is hardly the way the Houston Rockets wanted to welcome back Eric Gordon, but providing meaningful minutes for Rockets rookies is important to create depth in Mike D’Antoni’s relatively small circle of postseason trust

The 22-10 Houston Rockets have to best the 10-23 New Orleans Pelicans? Easy. Without Russell Westbrook? Well, James Harden can carry the offensive load. Oh? No Clint Capela, either? I see.

Houston’s loss on Sunday was far from idealistic, with over half of the starting-five out for the game. It left Eric Gordon, returning from a 22 game surgery-induced absence, to lead the Rockets reserves against the Pelicans.

Gordon performed well, putting up 20 points, and shooting 4-7 on 3-point attempts. Danuel House chipped in 22 points, followed by Isaiah Hartenstein with 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, and Chris Clemons with 16 points.

If you looked only at Houston’s shooting splits and stat lines, you could be convinced that they played a respectable game – 52 percent from the field and 39 percent from deep tends to be enough to secure a victory. What the Rockets failed to do was employ the same consistency on the defensive end, and minimize turnovers. What ended as an 11-turnover discrepancy told the whole story, leading directly to the Pelicans outscoring Houston 28-4 on the fastbreak.

The Rockets’ loss was, to put it plainly, expected. Without Harden and Westbrook’s offensive capabilities, Houston failed to consistently string together scores. Capela’s absence led to New Orleans pulling down 31 percent of their missed shots, and scoring 23 second-chance points.

Houston’s reserves spent the game trying to out-score the Pelicans, and while they exchanged possession of the lead late in the 3rd, even taking a nine-point lead, they ceased to orchestrate offensive sets, opting instead for a free-form scheme, hoisting three-pointers with regularity.

So, you may ask, what part of this game was good? It brought attention to some things people may have forgotten, and to some things we never realized. First, Eric Gordon is an excellent 3-point shooter. It was a topic of discussion earlier in the season, as Gordon converted on only 28 percent of his shots outside the arc. Now that his injury has subsided, it becomes evident that Gordon’s woes were more than likely related to his early-season pain, and that he simply needed to get healthy.

Additionally, though Coach Mike D’Antoni held his rotation to only eight men, Rockets reserves proved that they can provide scoring when needed. While it may still be early in the season, it is important for coaches to create trust within their players, especially those that do not consistently see the floor. When the playoffs rear its head come April, it is reassuring to know that Houston’s bench players can step up if necessary.

With that in mind, Isaiah Hartenstein made a bid for his role as Houston’s backup center, as Tyson Chandler‘s playing time tends to be sporadic. While his talent is still unpolished, and in need of refinement, an 82-game season makes room for improvement and will allow Hartenstein to solidify his spot as the backup 5.

Though Houston’s star SG/C duo of James Harden and Clint Capela remain questionable for Tuesday’s game vs. Denver, Russell Westbrook will make his return to the floor, bringing a determined playmaker and defender to the shorthanded, and somewhat-stagnant Rockets.