Rockets should focus on getting top seed, rest Best record, rest should be priorities going forward

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Rockets should focus on getting top seed, rest
Best record, rest should be priorities going forward
By Brian T. Smith, Houston Chronicle

March 22, 2018 Updated: March 22, 2018 11:18pm

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I will get to the best team in the NBA staring at the best regular-season record in franchise history and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs in a moment.

Right now, let's go backward.

Almost a year ago to the day, when James Harden declared his daily devotion to the Rockets and basketball life.

"I'm a hooper," Harden said March 20, 2017. "I just want to hoop. I'll rest when I'm done."


He was shaking off a left wrist injury then, in the final weeks of a heated, season-long MVP race with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook during the year of the triple-double.

Harden was praised for his 82-game dedication. He started at least 81 games for the third consecutive season, pushing the then Chris Paul-less Rockets to 55 victories and third place in the Western Conference.



Less than two months later, the praise looked foolish. The face of the Rockets again wore down midway through the playoffs. And even though he averaged a career-high 28.5 points during 11 postseason games and his 37 average minutes were far removed from his career-high 43.8 during the 2013-14 postseason, there was no debating that Harden was a step off at the end of the Rockets' sudden conference semifinals fall to San Antonio.

Deepest roster

Now let's get back to the best team in the NBA in 2018 and home-court advantage through the Finals.

This is the deepest (and best) roster that Daryl Morey has constructed. The Rockets possess two point guards who will likely end up in the Hall of Fame. Harden leads the league in average scoring (31.0) and his team in assists (8.7), but his nightly weight is more shared than ever before.

And when Paul is dealing with a
hamstring injury with old friend Blake Griffin's Detroit Pistons in town? The 58-14 Rockets can afford to give CP3 a night off against a struggling 32-40 squad that is staring at another lottery ticket.

"He could have played (Thursday) if he had to," coach Mike D'Antoni said before game 72 at Toyota Center.

That should be the deciding factor for the Rockets' final 10 games of the 2017-18 campaign.

Lock up the West and No. 1 seed in the league. But also rest the big names as much as possible, always keeping one eye on the two-month, four-round playoff grind that could await.

Think and act like a modern NBA champion.

Golden State spokesman Draymond Green already said the Warriors aren't concerned with earning the top seed in the top-loaded West. With Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all recently dealing with injuries, the NBA's biggest superteam is solely focused on making the Finals for the fourth consecutive season and winning its third world title since 2015.

Why should the Rockets be any different?

It's the NBA's fault that almost one-third of the league is staring at 50-loss seasons. Three of those embarrassing tankers (Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix) are included on the Rockets' schedule this homestand.

Rest but keep rhythm

Get a little extra time for Gerald Green. Allow Ryan Anderson to rediscover his outside stroke. Keep developing Clint Capela for a first-round breakout.But Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Harden and Paul? Keep them in rhythm, of course. But also have the veteran foursome in prime health for when the games really start to matter.

D'Antoni acknowledged the Rockets' final 10 regular-season contests will balance rhythm with rest. He'll rely on the team's athletic training and sports performance staff for expert in-house advice, mentioning Jason Biles and Javair Gillett by name Thursday. But there's no perfect science when it comes to predicting how much (or little) rest is needed to potentially be ready for the Warriors in mid-May.

"The problem is that, where's it written what we do that makes them ready?" D'Antoni said. "I've been on teams where, yeah, you rest 'em a lot and they get out of a rhythm and they lose the first round. Ah, that's great. So, you don't know. We just try to do the best."

Last season's NBA Coach of the Year acknowledged that 2016-17 was different. Paul wasn't wearing Rockets red, Harden was in the middle of a heated MVP debate and, while the team was basically locked into third place in the West, it was the first year under D'Antoni and the regular season had turned out better than anyone initially expected. Much was new and the road ahead was still uncertain.

Seeing the real picture

A year later, the Rockets are rolling through their best regular season in franchise history - record-setting win No. 59 is waiting to be celebrated at Toyota Center - and have earned the luxury that big numbers and increased depth provide. Harden's 35.6 average minutes is his lowest mark since his final season as a sixth man for the Thunder. That already shows the Rockets are seeing the real picture.

A slow start against the Pistons or a couple losses to lesser teams in early April can be accepted. Barring a total collapse, these Rockets have already proven themselves in the initial 82.

Everything moving forward should have the Warriors and NBA Finals in mind.

Rest a little more now to win the real games later.