The Rockets Small-Ball Approach Has Unleashed Russell Westbrook

The Houston Rockets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, as they’ve turned a corner and hit another gear since the start of February, going 8-2 in their last 10 games and most recently decimating the Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

Their hot streak has coincided with their full embrace of small-ball, having traded Clint Capela to the Hawks in a four-team deal that netted them Robert Covington from the Timberwolves. The move led to plenty of skepticism, but from the jump — a win in L.A. over the Lakers — they’ve shown how the philosophical shift has raised their ceiling.

The player who has benefited the most from the Rockets’ five-out approach has been Russell Westbrook, who is averaging 32.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game in the last 10 games, with a usage rate of 36.4 percent (higher than James Harden) and a true shooting percentage of 58.7, a vast improvement over his season TS% of 53.5. Harden has started to find his footing in the new controlled chaos the Rockets play with, but Westbrook has thrived in it from the jump, taking full advantage of all the space and confusion on both ends of the floor.

Houston’s pace, as defined by possessions per game, hasn’t changed in any discernible way since their small-ball shift, but they are getting out in transition more thanks to an uptick in forced turnovers thanks to their wild switching that has wrecked havoc on opponents. For the season, the Rockets had forced an opposing turnover rate of 15.1 percent, but that has spiked to 17.7 percent over the last 10 games, leading to more fast break opportunities — 14.1 percent of their points over the last 10 games have come on the break compared to just 12.5 percent on the season as a whole.

Transition is where Westbrook thrives, and the increased impetus on pushing the ball up the floor off of turnovers and misses has led to some classic Russ buckets as he bullies his way to the rim while the defense is scrambling. Houston is creating 10.2 steals per game over the last 10 games, up from 8.4 steals on the season, and those live-ball turnovers are where Westbrook is able to shine, jumping into passing lanes and taking off the other way where he’s nigh unstoppable.

The spacing they create is also allowing Russ to push the ball more in semi-transition, as opposing bigs — like Jonas Valanciunas here — aren’t filling their typical lanes as they get back to their set defense. With P.J. Tucker serving as the nominal center, Valanciunas isn’t retreating to the rim, but is instead out wide of the paint to protect against Tucker inevitably parking in that weakside corner. Westbrook recognizes that and bullies his way by Memphis’ guards, who are the only resistance between he and the rim, for a quick bucket.

This has been happening constantly since the Rockets went small, as Russ has recognized he can get to the rim nearly at will when there’s not a big in range of rotating down to help. As a result, his shot profile has improved and his outside shooting has taken a leap as well, as he’s suddenly hitting 38.9 percent of his threes after hitting less than 25 percent on the season. He’s also attempting just 2.6 per game, down from 3.9 attempts on the season. Westbrook is now only taking quality three point looks, and given that he’s a rhythm shooter, he’s far more confident in his stroke right now because he’s more involved and getting more opportunities at the rim.

Beyond his scoring, Westbrook is flexing his playmaking muscles as well with the space afforded to him in this new offense. With the lane unclogged, the Rockets are running a lot of guard-wing pick-and-rolls, with Tucker parked in the corner to hold the big man out wide. They’re putting wing defenders that aren’t as used to pick-and-roll coverage into high stress situations, with the ever-present possibility of a skip pass to the corner should the opposing center dig down too far to help at the rim. The result is confusion from defenders not accustomed to being in that position and a late rotation by the center who can’t get to the basket in time to really alter the shot.

It’s beautiful design from Mike D’Antoni on the opening play of the game, and it’s the kind of sets they are just destroying teams with because they’ve completely changed everyone’s roles on the floor. Perimeter defenders suddenly have to think like a big and vice versa, and it’s created an awful lot of discomfort for defenses. Westbrook, who is maybe the NBA’s most pure distillation of chaos as a player, is exploiting that discomfort and finding himself having one of his most efficient stretches of his career as a result.

With Harden starting to understand how to attack those pressure points they’re able to create as well, Houston is really hitting its stride. The question going forward is, of course, how will defenses adjust, but Harden is also the danger there. If you shift things too much towards trying to stop Russ, you’re likely going to leave yourself vulnerable to Harden picking you apart. Come playoff time, there will be enough tape and time for teams to really gameplan for what the Rockets are doing on both ends, but given the talent of their two guards it’s hard to see how you really stop this offense — whether Houston’s defense can hold up in the playoffs is a different story.

When Houston traded for Westbrook, there were plenty of questions about whether he would be able to work with Harden. The two struggled to find a rhythm together at times this season, seemingly trading big nights, but recently they’ve found something with this small-ball world that is bringing out the best in Russ while still giving Harden the opportunity to do what he does best.

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