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NEW YORK – On Wednesday in Houston, Chris Paul invited rookie Gary Clark to go home. The Houston Rockets were blown home the night before, 104-85, scoring only 15 points in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers. It was their fifth defeat in six games, which was absolutely not what they planned to start the season after being as close as possible to the NBA Finals.
"I said I could not imagine how much he probably woke him up as a rookie," said Paul. "Like, oh, that's never going to go wrong. So, thankfully, it's been a long time since I know it's not always the case, and vice versa. In fact, you know, when the game goes on and we lose, I get upset or whatever, but when I realize everything that's going on, I'm cool. "
As cool as Paul may be, before the Rockets training Thursday in Brooklyn, he had not much to say about Why they were so uncomfortable. He abandoned the term "make or break the league" and said that no one "hits the panic button", which would be obvious squares in a Bingo Struggling Team game.
In fairness to Paul, he played only two games with his future Hall of Famer, James Harden. The small striker James Ennis, who was supposed to keep the Houston defense in the absence of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, missed his homeland without a win against Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland. A reporter asked Paul what it would take for the Rockets to regain their swaggering air, and he was a little flippant.
"Win," said Paul. "Try to get everyone on the ground, I'm trying to give you something, I know you all have to write something, I do not have anything, but I mean, that's all." is simply simple. "
Should a victory to change the momentum and move things in the right direction?
"I do not know," Paul said. "I do not know, do you see what I mean? I do not know. What we are going to do, is we are going to practice, and we will be rocking tomorrow and continuing to build until we receive our full group. If we won all the games right now, we would still not have what we need because James does not play. So, we will not know anything until we see what we look like. "
At this point, the Rockets did not look like last season. When asked where they stood with their defense, coach Mike D'Antoni replied with a laugh and saying a word: "Last?"
They were actually in 24th place in the defensive score, according to NBA.com. Houston has fouled too much, bounced terribly, without paint protection (it's barely a percentage of distance to be the last, both in frequency and percentage of the goal on opposing shots at the rim , by Cleaning the Glass) and, when PJ Tucker was on the bench, he was literally the worst defensive team of all time, by Michael Pina of Vice Sports Sports. If you were in the Rockets after losing Ariza and Mbah as a Freelance Moute, you were probably quite happy with your prediction before the season.
It would be one thing, though, if Houston had just struggled to defend himself. What is surprising with the first two weeks of the season is that the situation was even worse at the other end. Entering their match against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, the Rockets ranked 26th in the offensive standings and 28th (!) In the net standings behind the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns. They did not reach the line of free throws, having not finished the rim or shot at 3 points. The opposing teams fell back into the pick-and-roll cover and largely failed to charge them. When D'Antoni offers non-explanations of the type "we just have to play better", it's boring, but not wrong.
"There is no reason why we are as we are right now," said Antoni. "No reason why we can put a finger on it."
"What I do know is that I'm thankful that this is not a football season," said Paul.
After the last ring at Barclays Center, Tucker shouted down the hallway towards the visitors' dressing room: "Do it! Get it ready! Get it ready! That's how we play!" like that Rockets play! "
Tucker was excited because it was the first time this season that they were participating in this way. Houston beat Brooklyn 119-111 in finding the desperation that could be expected from a team that needed a win in the worst case. You can set Rockets basketball by its affinity for the 3-point line, its dislike for mid-range riders or its intensive use of isolations, but for Tucker, it's what it's all about. They make it to the other end.
"I just let it go," Tucker told CBS Sports. "Playing loud, talking, communicating, leaving all this out, man."
It is worth noting that it was not a kind of triumph from wire to wire. In the first quarter, Houston dropped 26 points and allowed Brooklyn to pull 71.4%. The Nets looked a lot like last year 's Rockets, hunting switches and the advantages of tuning. They arrived at the rim whenever they wanted and created constantly open and rhythmic points.
At the end of the second quarter, Carmelo Anthony, frustrated, openly pushed Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in the back rather than fighting against a screen. Spencer Dinwiddie's corner 3 put the Nets at 14, and in the ensuing deadlock, Paul asked the coaches to let the players talk to each other. Enough was enough.
In the caucus, Paul challenged his teammates to make a few saves. If the Rockets were to take the Nets out of the 3-point line, they needed the lowest man to be on the edge and all the others to rotate. "We were shouting, we were cursing," Anthony said, and the downtime led directly to a 13-4 run. In the second half, they kept Brooklyn at a modest (in 2018) 50 points on 37.5%.
"We could have let go of the rope and consider it a loss," said Paul. "It was more important than winning the game." When we get these things in February and April, winning or losing this game is not such a big deal, it's the way you react to it. adversity during the match. "
To be clear, Houston would not have won without Paul as a superhero. This team is modern in many ways, but having an army of playmakers is not part of it. He scored 32 points on 13 out of 27 shots with 11 assists, seven rebounds, two interceptions, two blocks and two buzzer–beat 3 points. The Rockets were outclassed by 12 points in 11 minutes on the bench. He told AT & T SportsNet he was "tired like hell" before leaving the court.
"It's as good as it goes," said Antoni. "That's who Chris is, his will, his heart will not let you down, especially when times are tough, and he knew that times were tough, he had to find even more things in himself, and he's done it – that's why he's one of the best – he just has an incredible mind that will not let you lose. "
Beyond Paul's performance, there was something to feel good about: Anthony 28 points in 9 points out of 12, the highest of the season; The effort of 22 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks of Clint Capela; Tucker's usual defensive intensity all over the field and the way Houston collectively closed Dinwiddie after he got where he wanted in the first period. Antoni was sufficiently relieved to offer a lightness describing the preparations for the match.
"Well, the team can not panic, I can not show them panic," said Antoni. "But on the inside, I panic, which is what we do as coaches."
So, will this win be enough for the Rockets to regain their braggart look? This is not yet clear, but at least they have now shown that they were able to stay together when things went wrong. In addition, Harden will be back in training on Saturday in Chicago. It can not hurt.
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