The Rockets must learn how to be like the Warriors to beat them

For a long time, the trio of Chris Paul, James Harden and Mike D’Antoni have gotten by on doing things the way they always did them. Always ruling the game with an iron first. Always running and gunning, with a disregard for defense. Always thumping a hole in the hardwood. Always running a short rotation. Always can get in trouble. Always tiring out late into the postseason. Always falling short of a Western Conference berth. Always being solvable.

Stubbornness is the double-edged sword that rules the lives of most professionals in sports, and even more so with this trio. Which is why, entering the season, there was reason to doubt the Rockets would be able to put together a viable playoff contender, that things wouldn’t explode in their faces. Two-thirds of a season to go is a long time for a collection of short fuses, but as of right now, the Rockets are playing like a team that has been led by humbled men. They’ve softened their jagged edges just enough for all the pieces to fit together.

Chris Paul, the law-and-order point guard, the heretofore control freak, has ceded the floor to James Harden, the freewheeling trickster, and the result has been an offense that produces 119 points per 100 possessions when they share the floor. Together, they’re running opponents off the floor, with an elite offense that thrives off two separate nuclei. When Paul and Harden share the floor, everything runs through them. Over the last 15 games, they’ve made up 16.8 of Houston’s 22 total assists.

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That they’ve both managed to play at an All Star level is a testament, more than anything, to how much time they used to waste. Watching Paul and Harden share the floor, you get the sense that each of them is hyper-aware of the fact that they’re taking possessions away from each other. They’ve both sacrificed, and each understands the responsibility the other has bestowed upon him. As a result, each pump-fake and dribble is imbued with a greater sense of purpose. It’s not like they ever had to burn a hole in the hardwood by dribbling the ball at the top of the key for 12 seconds. Nowadays, they’re doing that less and less.

Taken apart, both are more than willing to slide back to leading roles, with the result being that neither Paul nor Harden is ever off the floor, which puts serious stress on opposing defenses. Impressively, they don’t merely snap back into old habits in those moments. The Rockets play at a 100.7 pace with the usually-plodding Paul on the floor, just one possession less than normal.

And Harden, who has been famously reckless with the basketball in his hands, accounts for 11 percent less of the team’s turnovers when he’s on the court compared to last year. He is also playing the best defense of his career.

And then there’s D’Antoni, who has gone from a coach who merely had a vision to implementing that vision in its highest capacity last season, to understanding that alone, it wasn’t going to do the trick. These Rockets play defense better than any D’Antoni outfit in history, with a defensive efficiency rating of 103.6, and much of the credit goes to D’Antoni’s handing over the reigns to his right hand man and defensive coach, Jeff Bzdelik.

To watch Paul slam the ball on the floor in frustration in the final 20 seconds of a blowout is to know everything there is to know about this team right now. First, the Rockets are blowing a lot of teams out. Second, they’re treating it like a ball game to the very end — the Paul way. Part of this constant edge is why his teammates in Los Angeles wore tired of him, but it’s an urgency that Houston desperately needs.

Harden’s Rockets have always been able to light up the scoreboard, but they lacked heft. Paul, on the other hand, after the Clippers’ experience, needs a release valve. In his eyes, there is nothing bigger than one botched execution. It sends him in a spiral. In the Rockets fast-paced system, each possession takes on less and less meaning. There is always another one to spell regression back to where it should be. So it is that they’ve landed at a happy medium of accountability and seriousness with a blend of levity.

The Rockets’ defense is far more intricate than the high-frequency switches employed by P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute, especially with him and Clint Capela missing time. It’s versatile and match-up specific, with an effort to stick to match-ups against weaker screens, especially when Capela is on the floor. When ball-handlers hit the corner or baseline, Houston will sometimes elect to trap to create turnovers. Mistakes will be made.

Tucker, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen, put it this way: “We’re just so blunt and honest, man,” he said. “Everybody puts their feeling to the side. Let’s be grown men. At the end of the day, let’s do what we have to do to win game. If that’s calling out something that’s going on that we need to stop or do more of, that’s the openness we talk about having. Some games, you have to push some buttons to get it started.”

Added D’Antoni, “This the best time to get on them because they won’t listen anyway, but at least they won’t be mad at you.”

This is an interesting tidbit. One of the reasons improvement is so hard is because the combination of different egos in an NBA locker room can crumble at the sight of criticism. But when you’re winning, all criticism is constructive. And when you dominate the way the healthy Rockets did during their win streak, you’ve gotten a taste of the carrot, which makes it easier to take the stick. A team like the Rockets knows what it is capable of, and each individual part can be more assured that their sacrifices will mean something.

On that note, let’s not forget the third and final point: Paul was on the floor in the final seconds of a blow out. For all the habits that are being shed, the Rockets’ rotation is still playing far too many minutes — a mainstay of D’Antoni teams.

Sure, there is something to be said of the fact that Harden is playing in a reduced role. The Rockets have also phased out practices and shootarounds. But Harden is still 12th in the league in minutes played per game, putting him at a relative disadvantage against most of the competition they’ll face in the playoffs. Paul already missed 14 games with a knee injury, and Harden has been playing through a calf injury. With Paul sidelined again — this time with a left adductor strain — it’s fair to question whether the release valve needs to be turned down one notch lower. The 73-9 Warriors should serve as an object lesson on how chasing regular season wins and MVP awards can burn a championship contender out.

This, really, is what Houston’s ability to reach its potential will come down to: how much more they are willing to change. That goes for minutes, and it goes for Harden and Paul’s on-court time. Sure, they’re blowing the tops of buildings, but they could still play together a lot more. And their scorching defense, thanks to some injuries and wear-and-tear, has relaxed as of late.  Can D’Antoni and Paul direct their intensity towards tightening system principles instead of some inevitable bad losses? Can Harden decide he’d rather be Finals MVP than the regular season MVP?

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Rockets GM Daryl Morey has said the team is obsessed with beating the Warriors. To do that, they must learn to be like them. Merely constructing a super team isn’t enough. With Kevin Durant, the Warriors were willing to give themselves up to a higher cause without losing the individual components that made them great. In Houston, unity hasn’t disintegrated into conformity, rather a greater sense of purpose. They know what they can be. It’s time to double down.