Do rebounds matter? The small-ball Houston Rockets are going to find out
By Duncan Smith
P.J. Tucker’s impact
As important as Russell Westbrook has been for the whole machine and the offense in particular, this whole small-ball party is over without P.J. Tucker. As the de facto center and most consistently solid defender, Westbrook may be the drink itself but Tucker is the straw that stirs it.
If we take a closer look at the on/off stats (thanks to stats.NBA.com and NBA Wowy) the Rockets are lost little birds on defense and the boards when Tucker is off the floor. When Tucker is on in the past 10 games, the Rockets are +12.6, and when he’s off, they’re -6.6. That’s a 19.2 point swing
Much like with Westbrook’s off splits, their defense is horrendous, giving up 112.5 points per 100 possessions. When Tucker is on the floor, their rebounding is almost acceptable with a rebounding percentage of 47 percent.
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When he’s off, their rebounding percentage drops to a scarcely believable 41.7 percent. They collect only 20.1 percent of their own misses and have a defensive rebounding percentage of just 64 percent.
For context, the NBA’s worst rebounding team is the Washington Wizards, and they have a rebounding percentage of 47.6 percent. No team has a defensive rebounding percentage under 70.5 percent, and no team’s offensive rebounding percentage dips below 23.2 percent.
Needless to say, Tucker’s presence is absolutely essential to make this small-ball thing actually work.