Much Improved Defense Biggest Factor in Early Success

yeah the D was pretty good last year for some stretches but watching them it seemed that Asik was holding the fort by himself. Guys like Harden looked like they wanted their man to shoot quickly so that Houston could get into the offense faster. I guess disinterest by some of the other Rockets would be the word last year when it came to defense. This year they know Dwight is there, they know Asik is still there, and the perimeter players look like they are excited to play some good defense themselves when they could easily revert to last year's mode, leaving the D to the big men.

The fact that they have gone up against mediocre teams so far doesn't change the obvious higher effort level on D. Last year, even mediocre teams knew they can run up the score when playing the Rox.