With a pair of defensive minded centers on the floor, the Rockets thought their perimeter defense would be strengthened by the knowledge that there was defensive help waiting in the lane, allowing perimeter players to be more aggressive. It has not worked that way.
The Rockets have been slow fighting through screens and closing out to shooters, allowing more 3-pointers per game than all but two teams heading into Saturday’s game against the Clippers.
We were not good at it last year for a long time and we’re not very good at it now.