After 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook has adapted quickly to a new environment with the Houston Rockets and brought an improved level of efficiency to his game, says Sky Sports NBA analyst Mike Tuck.
There was certainly a lot going on with the Houston Rockets this season: losing one of their superstars in Chris Paul; bringing in a different one in Russell Westbrook; the cloud of the controversy sparked by general manager Daryl Morey's tweet about the Hong Kong protests and the subsequent reaction from China, who severed their connections with the team and stopped broadcasting team's games.
Forming a starting backcourt of Westbrook and James Harden, two of the most notorious ball-hogs in the league, was a pairing no one thought would work. However, after some growing pains in the beginning, they got into a bit of a rhythm midway through the season and, to me, it has actually kind of worked.
A lot of people referred to the 'Westbrook experiment' at the start of the season, almost suggesting there was no way Russ could be successful in Houston playing with Harden. But it has worked for him and that goes to show what kind of a guy he is.
It is not easy to play in one place for 10 years then start over in a new city and a new situation. Westbrook was the 'top dog' in Oklahoma City for a long time so slotting into a No 2 option behind Harden, the guy who used to come off the bench for the Thunder, is tough to deal with.
But Westbrook came into Houston and has done great. His scoring average is up on last season by almost five points a game (a consequence of playing for a more offensively-minded coach and team) and his field goal percentage is up too. It really clicked for Westbrook in January and February, where he averaged well over 30 points a game and made more than 50 per cent of his shots.
That's a quick turnaround in terms of figuring things out considering where he came from and who he is now playing with. Westbrook is a guy who has notoriously not been very efficient with the ball but he has improved that in Houston. Shooting better than 50 per cent for two months is pretty solid!
I didn't expect Westbrook to do what he has done in Houston. It shows his maturity. Credit should go to the Rockets staff too. The coaches have broken down the film and demonstrated why the team doesn't need him to shoot threes. They need him to get to the basket, be a slasher and be a dribble-drive guy. He has taken all that on board and thrived in a new team environment.
Although there was so much going on with the Rockets, they were still a team whose games you always want to watch. Harden is always putting his stamp on games and cementing his place in the MVP conversation.
Harden is one of those guys who people either hate or love. To do what he is doing and to make it look so easy takes an incredible amount of talent. Whether you agree with how he kicks his legs to draw contact on his step-back threes or how important drawing fouls is to his game, he has 'found a hack' and made it work in his favour.
From a player's perspective, if I was playing against it would p**s me off. Would I want to play with him? I don't know. But watching him play is super-exciting. He steps up in big moments and creates memorable moments all over the floor.
Houston, being a stat-reliant team in terms of roster construction, made that mega-move at the trade deadline, trading away center Clint Capela and going all-in on 'small ball'. I don't know if that was working out for them. And I don't think it will work out in the long run.
The biggest thing with the Rockets' moves at the February deadline was the fact they put their eggs into one basket. They now have no one taller than 6ft 8in. They traded away Capela, who was emerging as one of the best centers in the league, and their back-up big man Nene. They don't have a defensive rim protector now, that defensive threat in the paint and they are getting killed on the boards.
Over the five games they played in March before the season was suspended, they ranked second-last in defensive rebounds per team and 25th in rebounding percentage for the season overall. The Rockets have PJ Tucker, a guy who is 6ft 5in and 35 years old, guarding the opposition's big men. He has a lot on his plate for his size and age.
I think it has put a strain on the rest of the team as well. Houston are a very offensively-minded team who are getting beaten up on the defensive end and it is taking its toll. As a result, production is down across the board, especially with Harden. Look at his numbers in the five games before the season was suspended. He was really struggling, shooting 37.5 per cent from the floor and 25.0 per cent from three. He also had that infamous quadruple-double with 10 turnovers in the loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
The pounding the Rockets are taking on the defensive end is taking its toll and affecting their offense. Teams are making Houston work on both ends of the court and they have been shooting poorly, especially from three-point range. In those March games, their three-point field goal percentage was 31.0, third-worst in the league. The three-point shot is a focal point of their game, they shoot an average of 44.3 triples per game. Harden attempts more than 12 a game. You can't be shooting that many and missing.
For the last decade, Houston have always been that team willing to take chances and roll the dice on the analytics, like the Oakland Athletics did in 'Moneyball'. I take my hat off to that because not a lot of teams would have the balls to do it. But at the same time, you have to ask, 'is it working?'
I think they may have reached a stage now where they are overdoing it. Yes, we are in this generation of positionless basketball where shooting threes will win you games but the Western Conference is so strong. What if they go up against either of the Los Angeles teams in the early playoff rounds? Those teams are too big and too strong for the Rockets. Defensively, they have so much to throw at Houston.
When the season resumes, they have got to try to win as many of those remaining eight regular-season games as possible. A first-round playoff match-up against Utah looks like Houston's best bet. The worst thing would be for them to drop to the seventh or eighth seed and face the Lakers or Clippers in the first round. That would mean an early exit for them.
The break will have been good for Houston. It will have given the veteran Tucker and Eric Gordon (who had knee surgery in November) time to rest. In my eyes, Gordon at his best is super-effective and the third-best player on the team. He is a fearless, experienced guy, a great slasher and a good three-point shooter. If he returned to score 20 points a game alongside Harden and Westbrook, the Rockets could make a run in the playoffs.