Houston Rockets put faith in a new superstar duo
By Alec Liebsch
Best case scenario
Like the rest of the West’s elite, the ceiling for the Houston Rockets is a championship. The field is more open than it’s been in half a decade and the Rockets are right in the thick of it.
James Harden and Russell Westbrook complement the best they can and stagger well. No lineup including either star performs poorly and the Rockets ascend to the top of the West in unrelenting fashion.
When the games get tight, the duo learns how to play off each other somewhat well. Westbrook embraces more of a cutting role when playing next to Harden, initiating the fast break with brute force as much as possible.
The role players naturally fit. Some of the fliers work out, giving coach Mike D’Antoni an actual bench to work with around his staggered stars. Few weaknesses exist, giving the Rockets some breathing room on the way to 60 wins.
Worst case scenario
The Harden-Russ combo is worse than the Harden-CP3 duo. Russ record-scratches the offense a bit too much and the duo claws its way to a playoff berth in a loaded West.
The pairing doesn’t work well when the game gets tight. Crunch time is a nightmare as Westbrook can’t stay engaged off the ball, forcing shots at the worst possible moments.
The offense feels more clunky when Russ is in charge, akin to his MVP season in 2017. No one can hit shots when he’s dominating the offense, making the non-Harden minutes quite difficult to parse through.
Houston gets a bad draw in Round and they get knocked out far too early. GM Daryl Morey has no assets left to get off Westbrook’s contract, meaning that the two have to work out their differences over the summer.