The Rockets missed Dwight Howard for 41 games this season. But the bigger issue was, they missed the REAL Dwight Howard for 82 games. Last year, Dwight had a RPM of +4.24, good for second best center in the NBA. In Orlando, he used to be a +8, DPOY, and MVP candidate. This season? For much of the year, he languished around +0.5, comparable to the likes of Tyler Zeller and Alexis Ajinca. You don't need advanced numbers to see how he played lazy defense and at times killed us on offense. It remains to be seen whether that is Dwight's new reality. Whether his body has simply broken down like so many have suggested. But ever since he came back from his break, in limited minutes, we started seeing glimpses of the old Dwight. In the handful of minutes since he's been back, his overall season RPM more than doubled to +1.22. In both the Spurs games, the team won with Dwight on the floor. And then, tonight I saw another Dwight. Tonight's Dwight Howard played maybe the best defense he has played in a Rockets uniform. He simply dominated the paint on the defensive end. Tonight he was the team's best player, and the +12 in his 17 minutes was the difference in the game. I'm not sure if we can get this Dwight Howard for 30 plus minutes. I don't know if we can get this Dwight Howard for the next 2 months. But.. Having Jason Terry step up and hit big 3s against his former team is what we got him for. Having a 20 year old Clint Capela play big playoff minutes when he was still in the D league a month ago is very bright for the Rockets future. Having Corey Brewer hit 3 after 3 and close out the game is.. probably unsustainable, but different players will have to step up every game. Those are all great stories. But the biggest story is, IF we can get this Dwight Howard for the rest of the playoffs, IF the real Dwight Howard is back, it makes the Rockets a completely different team. A team we have not seen all year. It makes the Rockets contenders.
His defense, I want to say it is back but I don't want to jinx it. Offense, still need to work out some kinks here and there. Except for the pick n' rolls. That schit is money.
After tonight it would be shocking if we don't sweep this team right into the dust pan. Dallas looked completely outmatched.
I felt like he was great offensively. He did try to post up a couple of times unsuccessfully, but I thought for the most part he bought into his role as a pnr player. We looked like a completely different team on offense when he was in the game.
It's amazing how the paint disappears for the other team when he is in the middle. Opposing 4s and 5s almost never post him up, and when they do it results in them taking a terrible shot or picking up their dribble in the paint without a good outlet. Everything the guards do is keyed off of Howard. If he looks at them, they aren't driving the lane. We have not seen this Dwight in a Rockets uniform.
Only caught the highlights, but he did look great. Also major props to Jet for sticking it to his old team. Also Brewer, those clutch shots were amazing, considering those passes to him were awkward to catch.
Joey is the NBA anti-christ. Dwight was electric. That is the Dwight that can get us to the Finals. Dominant.
Dwight missing time might be a blessing in disguise. He's well-rested, and the team was able to get better on its own.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Houston's net rating with Howard and Harden on the floor was +59.5 points per 100 possessions tonight.</p>— Michael Pina (@MichaelVPina) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelVPina/status/589681269060997120">April 19, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
it hopefully is. and considering he is only going to be playing his 16 minutes tonight in a total of 5 days. he should be extremely rested haha
Excellent post. I couldn't agree more. People who act like Howard isn't very good need to go away. When healthy, he is still one of the 10 best players in the NBA.
Dwight's early impact on defense was palpable. Tyson Chandler is a big guy but Dwight Howard absolutely annihilated his shot when Chandler tried to drive in on him. There were definitely a number of ticky tac fouls called on Dwight, but Mavericks had no answer for him when he was on the floor.
