Los Angeles Lakers: How to stop the Houston Rockets’ offense

Taking a look at the offensive vulnerabilities of the Houston Rockets and how the Los Angeles Lakers can take advantage of these weaknesses.

The Houston Rockets have been positioned as one of the favorites to eliminate the Los Angeles Lakers from championship contention before the NBA Finals. ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry started on March 4th that the Rockets are a viable threat to the Lakers’ title aspirations if they can make their three-point shots.

Can the Lakers eradicate the notion that Houston could beat them in the playoffs by designing an effective defensive game plan to stop the Rockets offense? Yes. Head coach Frank Vogel should create a defensive game plan which forces the Rockets to take more catch and shoot field goal attempts.

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The Rockets are currently one of the worst catch and shoot teams in the league as they rank 27th in the league in catch and shoot three’s percentage, converting 34.9 percent of their catch and shoot threes on 26.3 attempts per game.

The subpar performance from behind the arc has affected their catch and shoot field goal percentage as 3-point attempts make up 98.5 percent of catch and shoot shots this year. Consequently, Houston currently ranks 27th in the league in catch and shoot field goal percentages as they are only converting 35.2 of their attempts this season.

The Rockets were more effective in the catch and shoot department last season as they were
9th in the league in catch and shoot three percentage, converting 37.1 percent of their catch and shoot threes on 23.7 attempts per game.

The success from behind the arc has a positive impact on their catch and shoot field goal percentage as three’s make up 96.7 percent of catch and shoot shots this year. Consequently, Houston ranked 12th in the league in catch and shoot field goal percentage as they converted 37.4 of their attempts last season.

The decline in Houston’s catch and shoot production is related to the team’s offense. Head coach Mike D’Antoni ran an iso-centric offense last season as the team led the league in isolation possessions averaging 22.4 per game.

73.2 percent of those possessions belonged to James Harden as he averaged 16.4 per game. Consequently, Houston’s other perimeter players were forced to spend a significant amount of time as spot-up shooters.

A prime example of this can be found midway through the first quarter of a home game against the Miami Heat when Chris Paul, Gary Clark, and P.J. Tucker stood behind the arc as Harden isolated Dion Waiters on the left wing. Harden proceeded to size up Waiters for a couple of seconds before draining a step-back three.

Houston’s offense was the catalyst behind the deterioration of the relationship between Paul and James Harden. Paul was tired of Harden’s ball-dominant style and wanted a more free-flowing offense where D’Antoni would allow the team to run more offensive sets. Paul’s request would have made it harder for the opponents to defend Houston as defenders wouldn’t know what play was coming next.

Unfortunately, Harden wasn’t receptive to Paul’s request as he was frustrated with Paul’s inability to stay healthy and his personality. Harden felt that Paul’s hamstring injury in game 6 of Western Conference Finals cost the team a trip to the 2018 NBA Finals. Paul continued to have injury issues during the following season as he missed 24 regular-season games.

Harden was also grown tired of Paul trying to coach him all the time. Paul attempted to convince Harden to start moving when he was off the ball as it would capture the attention of defenders giving Paul more space to run the offense successfully. Harden never bought into Paul’s suggestion as he stood in one spot when he was off the ball.

The disconnect led Harden to decide that he no longer wanted to play with Paul. After the 2019 playoffs, Harden told general manager Daryl Morey to trade Paul. Consequently, Morey traded Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook.

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Houston’s decision to swap Paul for Westbrook has been a factor in the decrease in their catch and shoot production. Paul shot 42.1 percent on catch and shoot threes on 1 attempt per game during his two seasons in Houston. His behind the arc production contributed to Paul shooting 41.9 percent from the field on 1.1 catch and shoot attempts per game.

Paul was more efficient than Westbrook in the catch and shoot department as Westbrook shot 33.1 percent on catch and shoot threes over 1.6 attempts during his final two seasons in Oklahoma City. Westbrook’s behind the arc production contributed to him shooting 34.1 percent from the field on 1.8 catch and shoot attempts per game.

Westbrook’s shooting struggles continue to be on display in Houston as D’Antoni hasn’t made any significant changes to the team’s offense as they lead the league in isolation possessions averaging 23.1 per game. 62.7 percent of those possessions belonged to Harden as he is averaging 14.5 per game.

Consequently, Westbrook is shooting 27.6 percent on catch and shoot threes over 2 attempts per game. Westbrook’s behind the arc production contributed to him shooting 30.3 percent from the field on 2.1 catch and shoot attempts per game. Westbrook is taking 0.8 more catch and shoot field goal attempts than his costar as Harden is averaging 1.3 per game

Therefore, coach Vogel should tell Westbrook’s defender to double team Harden instead of guarding Westbrook. A double team would increase the likelihood that Harden passes the basketball to Westbrook. If Westbrook gets the ball, he has two options, shoot the ball immediately or attack the basket.

If Westbrook takes the open field goal attempt, it would be a low percentage shot due to his struggles in the catch and shoot department. On the other hand, if Westbrook decides to attack the basket, it gives the defense a better chance to recover/ rotate over to stop him from scoring.

However, if Harden chooses to keep the basketball, he risks being stripped or having to take a heavily contested shot. Either scenario would be a step in the right direction towards accomplishing the Lakers’ goal of winning a playoff series against the Rockets.

In conclusion, the Lakers can take advantage of Houston’s catch and shoot deficiencies in win a potential playoff series.