National Basketball Association

Houston Rockets register first win of season in Dallas - Player Grades

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:51 p.m. ET

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Oct 28, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews (23) guards Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) during the first half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Following a sub par effort to open the season the Houston Rockets rebounded with a quality effort to garner their first victory of 2016-17.

Fears the Houston Rockets abandoned their commitment to defense on a preseason court were somewhat assuaged in Dallas. There is still work to be done and noticeable deficiencies at certain roster positions (need I say it?). That said, this was a far better effort with more balance than the game in L.A.

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Several key changes occurred between the two contests. Most notably, and thankfully K.J. McDaniels spent more time on the court. James Harden while still solid at the point, spent less time forgoing his own offense to hook up his teammates. That’s not to say he wasn’t dishing dimes. Rather, he mixed the two areas together better.

Understandably Harden who has taken his leadership role to heart was set on getting his teammates rolling in the season opener. Yet, Harden expended so much energy in the first half in LA he was visibly fatigued in the second half. What was disappointing is his virtuoso effort (especially the first half) versus the Lakers was all but forgotten because the team neglected to defend and ultimately lost.

In Dallas, Harden found a much better balance and the Rockets made a better overall effort defensively, albeit still with lapses. Last season Houston had a dearth of play makers or consistently reliable shooters. Inevitably that led to Harden carrying the majority of the load and becoming predictable for opponents who simply sent multiple defenders to trap him. Ironically I was left wondering if opponents would attempt to shut him down in his new role by cutting off his passing lanes. That’s why the balanced effort is more important because Harden still possesses the ability to drop 50 on any given night. No doubt he’ll work with D’Antoni to tweak the offense and the more he functions in this role he’ll find a natural rhythm.

Moving forward I’m anxious to see if D’Antoni would dare experiment with a small ball line-up featuring 3 guards (Harden, Ennis and Gordon) with a super small front court of McDaniels and Ariza. This line could offer copious 3 point shooters, multiple ball handlers, speed and three of the teams’ best defenders. Sure, it could only be used in specific situations, but I’m hankering to see that line-up.

Coach D’Antoni came close in this game with the one difference being 2 of those 3 aforementioned guards each spent time together on court with McDaniels, Ariza and mostly Capela. Consequently the variation of these 6 provided the best defensive efforts of the night.

With that let’s take a look at the player grades.

Oct 28, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon (10) drives to the basket between Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) and center Andrew Bogut (6) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Rockets defeat the Mavericks 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

James Harden

Point Guard

Though he still has lapses he’s improved; perhaps that’s a direct result of having more energy because there are other offensive options. I particularly like when D’Antoni plays him with Ennis because it allows someone else to handle the play making and doesn’t wear him thin. His grade is less a reflection on his production and more a matter of the standard he himself has set. 26 points, 7 rebounds (1 offensive), 8 assists, and a steal. He loses the plus portion of the grade (I know it’s blasphemy, I mean look at those stats) based on his 4 turnovers.

Eric Gordon

Shooting Guard

Several times tonight his defensive cover was forced to move the ball simply because he used his lateral slides to stay in front. I grow more impressed each time I see him and I’m eagerly anticipating seeing how much he’ll feast on bench units. Again, I know it’s early, but I’ve definitely been impressed by Gordon.

In 34 minutes Gordon scored 18 points on 4 of 9 from the field, 50% from deep (3-6), 7 of 8 free throws, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and was a team high plus 18.

Trevor Ariza

Small Forward

A+To say Ariza had a few tough outings between the final preseason games and the season opener would be putting it lightly. That all disappeared in Dallas where the lanky small forward was the best 2-way player on the court. He was efficient from the field, moved to create an open target for his teammates and was part of the best defensive line-ups. The only thing he could have done better was out of his control as he should have been given the primary assignment on Barnes instead of Anderson. Ariza scored 27 points on 8 of 12 from the field, connected on 5 of 7 of his threes, was perfect from the line (6 of 6) grabbed 4 rebounds, a steal and was active on both ends. Great night for him all around.

Ryan Anderson

Power Forward

Perhaps he’d garner more shots if ….. oh here’s an idea, he moved to create an open target. Yet, what makes his lack of movement on offense all the more deplorable is his abysmal effort on defense. Go luck at the previous game highlight video and fast forward to 2:01. Watch how Anderson is caught napping in the paint as the team switches on defense and his man (Barnes) is left wide open at the top of the paint. Things like this occurred throughout the night. He had the lowest differential of all the starters and while I know those grades aren’t necessarily reflective of game situations in this case they were generous.

Granted, H-Town fans were under no delusions about Anderson’s defensive prowess, but when you couple it with no effort to get open for shots offensively and no effort pay attention on defense it forces me to grade him based on his effort. Hey, I don’t expect him to be Kawhi Leonard, but I do expect him to deliver at least on one end of the floor. 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers

Clint Capela

Center

B+No one expected Clint Capela to be a scoring machine. His role is to bang with the centers, protect the rim, grab rebounds, be a defensive presence and contribute where logical (hello – pick and roll lobs) and provide energy on the court. Facing the wily vet Bogut was a challenge, but on a whole I was impressed with his effort and production. He was also one of the better defensive contributors on this night. Better yet, he’s gaining valuable experience and growing with it. 4 points, 9 rebounds (2 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block, plus +15 in 25 minutes. Next: Best Reserve and Opponent Grades

Oct 28, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) guards Houston Rockets guard K.J. McDaniels (32) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Rockets defeat the Mavericks 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Best Reserve:

KJ McDaniels

Small Forward

He had a sick dunk, mucked it up on the boards and made life miserable for his defensive assignments. Let’s remember McDaniels barely played last season, so these minutes are the first consistent time he’s getting in Houston. Upside for the youngster is huge as he continues to soak in the experience and grow before our very eyes. 9 points on 4 of 9 shooting, hit a 3, grabbed 2 rebounds and had 2 steals.

Best Opponent:

Harrison Barnes

Small Forward

Barnes who was brought on to be the number 2 option to Dirk Nowitzki moved up the pecking order with Nowitzki out nursing a stomach flu. And for his second successive game Barnes delivered with a career high 35 points, and added 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal, 2 of 4 from 3 and perfect from the stripe (3 of 3).

Honorable mention goes to the line-up of Tyler Ennis, Eric Gordon, K.J. McDaniels, Trevor Ariza and Nene Hilario who closed out on shooters, pressured the pass, created turnovers, caused shot clock violations and most importantly held the lead.

As an aside, I’ve found it interesting there has been quite a few comments regarding the players needing to “find their legs” and get in game shape. For the most part this group spent the 2 months leading up to training working out together. Perhaps they spent less time conditioning and didn’t realize the pace D’Antoni was expecting.

Suffice to say the squad (other than Ryan Anderson) should sleep much easier following the victory.

In the category of I know it’s only 2 games BUT……………. If the MVP was handed out today Harden would be in the mix along with Kawhi Leonard, Dame Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, LeBron and DeMar. Yes those Warriors are missing from my list, but come now can anyone seriously consider giving MVP to a team with 4 All-Stars starting and a worthy 6th man on their team?