HOUSTON -- With just three preseason games remaining, the Houston Rockets have lost nearly 40 games due to injuries, rest or coach’s decision.
Sounds similar to what happened to this team last season. The good thing for the Rockets is that it’s the preseason, and with the regular season roughly two weeks away, the health of this team is improving.
Slightly.
“Bad, tough, we haven’t had a lot of guys,” coach Kevin McHale said prior to the Rockets’ 105-100 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday night. “If you don’t practice, it doesn’t matter how hard your team practices; if four of your top eight and five of your top nine aren’t playing (backups are playing), it’s good for them, but at a certain point they’re not going to be the ones playing. We just got to get everybody healthy. We’ve tried going light [in practice], and that hasn’t helped. I don’t know what’s going to help. We just got to get guys healthy.”
Against the Heat, the Rockets welcomed the return of James Harden (knee), Ty Lawson (shoulder) and Marcus Thornton (eye) to the regular rotation after the trio missed a few games for health issues. There was a brief scare when Harden fell down while dropping back on defense near the end of the third quarter. Rockets officials said he was fine.
However, Dwight Howard missed his fifth consecutive game due to lower back tightness, and backup center Clint Capela missed his second consecutive contest with a sore right shoulder.
McHale said the plan was to play Howard in a majority of the preseason games and monitor his minutes. But with three preseason games left, that’s not going to happen.
“I want him to play every game actually,” McHale said of the three remaining games. “I didn’t want him to do any back-to-backs, but other than that, our plan was to play every exhibition that wasn’t a back-to-back. Our plan was for him to play six just so he could get his rhythm and get going. He just hasn’t been healthy enough.”
The bigs are also missing power forward Donatas Motiejunas (back) for the preseason, as he’s still recovering from back surgery, so McHale has relied on smaller lineups and rookie Joshua Smith to play center.
Power forward Terrence Jones, who has endured his share of injuries, left the game after getting knocked in the chin by Miami’s Udonis Haslem. Already thin in the front court, Jones is being evaluated for a concussion.
There are some positives regarding the Rockets and the health situation: Harden is playing. After missing the past two games with a bruised knee, he returned against the Heat and scored 21 points.
Harden needs to build chemistry with Lawson, someone who will share the backcourt with him on a regular basis.
The Rockets have a plan of pushing the tempo at a faster pace in comparison to last season. To do that, Harden and Lawson must work together in different situations.
The pair splits time at the point guard spot, playing off the ball and helping Harden achieve more catch-and-shoot opportunities.
“We got three games left so we got time,” Harden said. “We got about a week and half to catch a rhythm and get all the guys back on the court at the same time and get it going from there.”
Outside of getting Harden and Lawson into the flow, Trevor Ariza is becoming comfortable with the quicker pace. Ariza was shooting 50 percent from the floor in the preseason, and Saturday night he made his first four shots of the evening. He finished with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
“I think the biggest difference from last year to this year is a comfort level for myself and others,” Ariza said. “For me, last year was my first time playing with this group of guys in this type of offense and it wasn’t comfortable. Now I’m getting comfortable and I’m understanding the offense more and understanding what I need to do to be more efficient and effective to help the team win and it's getting easier.”
The Rockets aren’t alone in seeking chemistry for their regulars. The Heat had their regular five on the floor Saturday for the first time in a while, which made coach Erik Spoelstra encouraged.
“Every team seems to be going through it,” he said.
Yet, with the injuries and trying to incorporate Lawson into the offense, time is running out during this dress rehearsal before the real show beings.
“It’s very important for us to find that cohesion in our game in the things that we’re doing so that we can bring our younger players along and everything can come together,” Ariza said.