Houston Rockets' 'Stay Ready Crew' shows up in win over Hawks

The Houston Rockets, like many teams this season, have had to navigate tough parts of their schedule, injuries, and the long grind of an 82-game NBA regular season.

The Rockets, in the first two months of the season, had one of the easiest schedules in the NBA, with multiple days off between games and no significant injuries through that point.

That started to change in December, as the Rockets' schedule got tougher and injuries piled up. That led to the team having an up-and-down month, finishing just over .500. The Rockets received more injury news in January as Steven Adams, their best rebounder, went down with a season-ending injury.

The Rockets are also starting to see the back-to-backs pile up, which means Tari Eason and Dorian Finney-Smith are usually missing one of the two games. That has meant more time for players like Josh Okogie and Clint Capela as the Rockets continue to navigate injuries and time missed due to injury management.

The Rockets headed to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back after a tough loss to the San Antonio Spurs, in which they collapsed in the fourth quarter, scoring only 13 points. Since it was a back-to-back, that meant the Rockets would be without both Eason and Finney-Smith.

Josh Okogie and Clint Capela step up in a win over the Hawks

Throughout the season, Okogie has been in and out of the starting lineup as the Rockets have experimented with different lineups. Okogie was a starter to begin the season and got off to the best shooting season of his career. Even though he has cooled off since then, he is still shooting a career high of .387 percent from beyond the arc.

Capela was brought in to be the Rockets' third center and play when Adams needed a game off.

Now, with the injury to Adams, he has been thrust into a more prominent role. Capela, Okogie, along with Jae'Sean Tate, Aaron Holiday, and Jeff Green, are all part of the Rockets' stay-ready group. They are called the stay-ready crew because they are players who can see their minutes go from 20 one game to zero the next, but who are always prepared to step in.

Okogie and Capela were called on Thursday's game, with Okogie starting and Capela playing 18 minutes in his return to Atlanta. The Rockets went back and forth with the Hawks for most of the first half before pulling away in the second half, in part because of the play of Okogie and Capela.

Capela had one of his best games of the season, scoring 10 points while pulling down 7 rebounds and blocking two shots. Okogie scored 10 points but, more importantly, pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds as he was all over the court for the Rockets.

The Rockets would go on to easily win the game 104-86, getting back into the win column after Wednesday night's loss. Both players will play a significant part in the Rockets' success the rest of the season as they continue to deal with injuries, players resting, and fighting for home-court.