Despite the Houston Rockets playing incredibly well as a team, Eric Gordon has struggled mightily in recent weeks, a trend that must be reversed.
The Houston Rockets are flying high. The team has won six straight games and just finished the month of November with a 12-1 record. Per NBA.com, Houston currently owns the league’s second-best offense and the sixth-best defense. Also, the Rockets have posted the highest point differential in the league at +10.8. Simply put, Houston has been dominant over the past couple of weeks and looks to be one of the top two or three teams in the league.
What has flown under the radar during this stretch is the play of Eric Gordon. It’s easy to overlook a player’s struggles in a two-week stretch of the season, especially as his team is thriving on so many levels. However, Gordon hasn’t been able to consistently and effectively contribute to this success for the Rockets.
In his last five games, Gordon is averaging just 10.5 points per game while shooting 31.3 percent from the field and 22.6 percent on 3-pointers. His secondary contributions like rebounding and passing have dropped, as he has averaged just 1.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game during this stretch.
Gordon has had a very interesting season so far, as he got off to a very hot start with Chris Paul essentially missing the first 15 or so games of the season (besides the opening night win over the Golden State Warriors). Gordon was extremely aggressive during this stretch, getting to the basket and free throw line on a consistent basis. In fact, in October Gordon attempted 7.1 free throws per game, while in November that number dropped to just 3.5 per game.
Space City Scoop
With Paul out, Gordon had the ball in his hands for long stretches of games, especially when James Harden was not on the floor. Gordon was tasked with running the second unit offense, something he was able to do, albeit with inconsistent results. This increased usage led to Gordon putting up 24.9 points per game in October. However, in the six games since Paul has returned, Gordon hasn’t scored more than 13 points in a game.
Gordon’s poor shooting isn’t new this season. For the season he is shooting just 31.6 percent from beyond the arc, which is well below his career average of 37.6 percent. Now that the season is over a quarter finished, it begs the question: When will Gordon’s shooting revert to the mean?
If and when Gordon’s shooting reverts back to his career averages, he will be an even more deadly option coming off the bench. Perhaps he is still adjusting to not having the ball in his hands as much now that one of Paul or Harden is always on the floor, putting Gordon in a more traditional spot-up, off-ball position.
Gordon needs his shooting to come back in order to be most effective, especially down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs. Luckily, so far this season he has shown more explosiveness and athleticism than in previous years, from his aggressive opening night performance against the Warriors to Houston’s most recent game against the Indiana Pacers:
Gordon is smart to make up for his poor shooting by getting to the rim more. He is likely to draw a foul or simply make the shot, as he is shooting 66.7 percent from within three feet of the rim this season.
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Eric Gordon’s shooting will likely return to his career norms. As of now, he is making up for his disappearing shot by attacking the rim more. As he gets more comfortable in his off-ball, spot-up role alongside Paul and/or Harden, Gordon will only get better as the third guard in the Rockets’ three-headed backcourt monster.