Rockets to Meet Small-Ball Match Against Clippers
The Rockets are certainly unique among the crop of Western Conference contenders. While the Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets and Mavericks all rely on 7'0" behemoths, Houston has taken a different tact, riding a collection of wings over the last month amid a radical small-ball experiment.
But while Mike D'Antoni's team is a rarity out West, the Rockets aren't completely alone stylistically. And they may meet their match at the Toyota Center on Thursday.
The Clippers aren't as devout as Houston in their use of small-ball. Center Ivica Zubac still leads Los Angeles in starts, though the 22-year-old logs just 18.1 minutes per game. Otherwise, head coach Doc Rivers delpoys a slate of wings and traditional power forwards, leaning into the small-ball revolution. 6'7" forward Montrezl Harrell logs significant time at the five. New addition Marcus Morris does the same. Los Angeles leans on a similar formula as the Rockets, albeit to a lesser degree.
“They’re good. They can combat every type of lineup because they’re that good,” Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni told the media on Wednesday. "Individually, they have some great players and they’ll go at you one-on-one. And we have more or less the same thing. It’s going to come down to whoever plays well that night."
Los Angeles' small-ball units have been impressively efficient in 2019-20. The Clippers outscore teams by 17.5 points per 100 possessions when they trot out Harrell, JaMychal Green and Kawhi Leonard in the frontcourt. Play Harrell and Leonard with Paul George, and Los Angeles still sports a plus-9.5 net rating. Zubac is an effective piece, yet its when the Clippers downsize that they're at their most dangerous.
Both the Rockets and Clippers thrive without a true center in the game, though the conversation surrounding their small-ball tendency needs to be a bit more nuanced. The Clippers trot out eight rotation players at 6'7" or taller. Paul George sometimes plays shooting guard. Their collective length compensates for the center-less lineups. Los Angeles is by no means the shortest team on the block.
Houston's athletic profile is a touch different. The Rockets lack in height, but they certainly compensate with strength. P.J. Tucker is a brick wall. Post James Harden at your peril. Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook are on the stouter side for guards, and Robert Covington remains an imposing rim protector. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has referred to the Rockets as "linebackers" on multiple occasions. Watch Tucker and Covington in the paint, and the description is apt.
The small-ball label has been pinned on Houston, with the Rockets now standing as the poster child of the league's newest movement. But don't consider D'Antoni's team a complete outlier. Even without a true carbon copy, the Rockets will get a taste of their own medicine on Thursday night. With playoff seeding at stake, the matchup marks one of the Rockets' most important games of the stretch run.
Tip-off from the Toyota Center is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
