Houston Rockets: Reviewing the season 2 months in

With two months of the 2017-18 NBA season in the books, the Houston Rockets are one of the best teams in the league. Why have they played so well?

Two months of the Houston Rockets‘ season has officially come and gone. Whatever test you want to say the Rockets faced during the beginning of the season, it’s clear they’ve passed with flying colors. Houston currently sits with the best record in the NBA at 24-4 and is on a 13-game winning streak.

While the integration of James Harden and Chris Paul was delayed during the first month of the season, Paul has been back in the lineup for over a month and the results are better than expected.

Houston is simply killing teams by staggering Paul and Harden to ensure that one of them is always on the floor. Often times, this leads to Paul running against bench units. Let me repeat that again. Chris Paul, a top-10 player in the league, plays a significant portion of his minutes against bench lineups.

While the team’s starting lineup of Paul, Harden, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson and Clint Capela has posted a good net rating (+7.1), they have struggled on the defensive end, posting a defensive rating of 113.8.

Paul’s integration as both a key cog in the starting lineup and the leader of the second unit has benefited Houston’s role players tremendously. Paul’s ability to send picture-perfect passes to the Rockets’ shooters has led to a stark increase in shooting.

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For example, Luc Mbah a Moute is shooting 60 percent when receiving a pass from Paul. Ryan Anderson is shooting 59.6 percent on such shots (including 68.6 percent on 3-pointers). Paul makes everyone around him better, something Houston hasn’t had in two guards during the James Harden era.

The two other main factors of the Rockets’ success so far are their shooting and much-improved defense. Let’s break both of them down further.

3s, 3s and more 3s

After starting off the season shooting very poorly from beyond the arc, the Rockets’ shooters have been revitalized by the return of Chris Paul. For the season, Houston is shooting 36.7 percent on 3-pointers, good for 13th in the league. Now, 13th in the league may not sound too great, but when you consider that the Rockets attempt over 43 threes per game, you realize their volume makes up for the percentage.

Besides, since Paul returned on Nov. 16, Houston is shooting 40.1 percent from beyond the arc, good for fifth in the league. As mentioned earlier, Paul has had a profound effect on the team’s shooting, mainly because now there is always one of the two greatest passers in the league on the floor. Just look at the chemistry Paul has already build with Ryan Anderson, the first true floor-spacing power forward he has played with in his career:

If you give Chris Paul a rim-running big (Capela), a floor-spacing 4 (Anderson) and surround him with shooters (choose from Harden, Gordon, Ariza, etc.), you’re going to have an incredible offense. And that’s exactly what Houston has.

Several players are shooting much better on 3s than in previous seasons, including Harden (39.4 percent), Ariza (38.4 percent ) and Paul (42.9 percent). Those three have been making up for Eric Gordon‘s rough shooting start to the season, as he is only hitting 32.6 percent of his 3-pointers so far.

However, it’s not just elite shooting and offense that is carrying Houston this season. Their much-improved defense deserves a lot of recognition and praise.

A good team on both ends of the floor

The Houston Rockets currently own the league’s fifth-best defense (per Cleaning The Glass, which excludes garbage time). Yes, you read that right. A Mike D’Antoni team led by James Harden is good defensively. Times have changed in Houston.

This defensive improvement has been led by Paul, P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. In Tucker and Mbah a Moute, Houston finally has multiple wing defenders to throw at opposing teams, instead of simply relying on Ariza in previous seasons.

Paul’s defensive reputation speaks for itself. He is a very good on-ball defender, but it is perhaps his off-ball defensive awareness and IQ that is most impressive. He knows exactly when to rotate over to provide help in the post or on the perimeter. There’s a reason he is averaging 2.4 steals per game so far this season.

Below is a perfect example of Paul’s smart rotations, as he is aware of what is happening on the other side of the floor, allowing him to rotate over and get the steal on DeMarcus Cousins to lead to a fast break:

Tucker has shown a similar ability to know exactly when and where to rotate over, as he does perfectly in the clip below to get the steal on Joel Embiid:

Tucker has provided the physical defense Houston has missed in previous seasons, and perhaps more importantly, is able to play center in small-ball lineups. So far this season, Tucker has played just five percent of his minutes at the 5, but the Rockets are an incredible +53.7 per 100 possessions in those minutes, posting an offensive rating of 148.8 and defensive rating of 95.1.

The Rockets will specifically need that small-ball lineup against the Golden State Warriors, but they can also roll it out to counter teams that go with two traditional bigs (i.e. the San Antonio Spurs).