The Houston Rockets have developed something of a reputation as basketball revolutionaries, and the legend may be continuing to grow.
According to Calvin Watkins of ESPN, the Rockets will start Eric Gordon over Ryan Anderson on Wednesday against the Utah Jazz and will have James Harden guard the power forward position.
Eric Gordon will start over Ryan Anderson and James Harden will guard the power forward position.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) March 8, 2017
It’s worth noting that Anderson is expected to miss Wednesday’s game altogether with back spasms, meaning that this could be a very temporary experiment. But despite the notoriety he has gained over the years for his laziness on defense, Harden has quietly been improving his effort on that side of the ball and is actually a strong positional defender with good instincts and an ability to check bigger players with his 6-foot-11 wingspan when engaged.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni hasn’t exactly been pleased with the Rockets’ overall defensive effort recently, despite their 44-20 record. But this ode to full-on positionless basketball, even if only short-lived, may provide them with some key situational insights to use to their benefit come playoff time.
