Houston Rockets: Defense has been key during win streak

Despite ranking among the bottom five in defensive rating throughout most of the season, the Houston Rockets have showed signs of turning things around lately.

Despite coming into the 2018-19 campaign not expected to pick up where they had left off the following year due to the departures of Luc Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza, the Houston Rockets defense still appeared to be in a state of complete oblivion to start the new season.

Houston, which finished in the top 10 in defensive rating a season ago, showed signs of a defense that was heading toward an epic drop-off, allowing a league-high 53.1 points in the paint through their first 57 games.

All the while, the Rockets allowed opponents to exploit one-on-one mismatches and garner wide open looks in the process. The stifling defenders that helped Clutch City get within 24 minutes of reaching the 2018 NBA Finals had yet to make their presence felt.

"“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure out what’s going to be the best solution for this team,” Rockets point guard Chris Paul told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon during the early days of the regular season.“Comparing last year and this year, you can’t do it. This is its own team and we’ve got to figure out its identity…we’ve just got to be better.”"

Now, Paul and the Rockets appear to have finally discovered it after all, as the team that entered the All-Star break 25th overall in defensive efficiency has found a way to make progress on that end while garnering victories against some of the NBA’s premier squads.

Since the All-Star break, Houston boasts the fifth-best defensive rating in all of basketball — allowing 106.4 points per 100 possessions — in the midst of a nine-game winning streak that has propelled them up to the third place in the Western Conference standings.

"“It reconfirms what we already know, that when we’re right and we’re mentally and physically right, we’re as good as anybody in the league,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.“We can beat anyone, anywhere at any time. We’ll work off it and keep working toward it.”"

Although most experts have come to know the Rockets for pulling out wins courtesy of offensive exploits from either Paul, James Harden or Eric Gordon, one could argue their recent outings have proven to be contrary to that general narrative.

Over the last 10 games and counting, Houston’s defense has worked mightily to try and resolve early season communication issues in their switch-heavy scheme. They’ve utilized Paul, Gordon, P.J. Tucker and Austin Rivers as active bodies to serve as primary on-ball perimeter defenders and cause havoc in the passing lanes, while keeping Harden and Clint Capela inside to hold control of the post, barring the need to switch and help out on pick-and-roll sets in the half-court.

It’s a particular strategy that has allowed the Rockets to generate more steals, rebounds and stops, while also leading to transition opportunities out in the open floor, as Houston has held the likes of the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers under 100 points in the month of March.

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1104200199390613506

"“You can always get better on defense,” Tucker told Feigen when discussing the Rockets’ recent strides on the defensive end. “As long as teams are scoring, you can get better….we want to make it tough for them, make them take the shots we want them to take, contest, be up for every shot, box out and rebound.”“We have a lot of know-how, a lot of it is communicating on the same page, especially on defense because when we get stops, we get out on the break and we’re tough.”"

Houston will vie for its 10th consecutive win as it gets ready to face off against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night at the Toyota Center.