I've being thinking, if teams go with Hack a Big strategy in the playoffs, what should the Rockets do? I think the answer is simple... play to our strength of defense. If a team start fouling, the Rockets should counter with a line-up of Nick Johnson Harden Trevor J-Smooth and Howard. The goal of this line-up should be soley to expand 100% energy and go balls to the wall on defense, because they get rest on offense any ways. If our bigs can make on average one FT per trip and rachet up the defensive intensity, they should be able to push the other team to be below 1 point per possession (current average is ~1.05 for the league so really just make everything 5% harder). The increase defensive intensity might also lead to turnovers that makes it an easier 2 points and potentially lead to more fast breaks.
Hack-a-whoever in the regular season seems to have different percentages. Players in the playoffs have been extremely focused and hitting their FTs at a much better clip than normal. Keeping Howard out there might be more valuable because playing small ball allows teams to score easier and I am confident Howard can hit his free throws at an above-50% rate throughout the playoffs
