It’s been a strange week for Houston Rockets fans. Offseason acquisition of superstars kevin durant involved in another incident Social media “drama”. Some of the comments said to have come from Durant’s “Burner” account included disparaging remarks about his teammates. jabari smith jr.. And after Houston played its first game back from the All-Star break, Durant praised Houston’s “small-ball” lineup. Who are the key players in Houston’s small-ball look? jabari smith jr.

So does Durant have a point, or was he just saving face?

Considering Kevin Durant’s praise for Jabari Smith Small Ball

The Rockets defeated the Charlotte Hornets 105-101. thursday night. Durant had an offensive performance in Houston, scoring 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field. In his postgame interview on the floor, Durant was keen to point out the team’s success. It becomes a “small ball”. Skeptics could easily interpret it as a shooting at a franchise center. Alperen Sengun. However, it could very well have been a peace offer to Smith. Perhaps it was due to pure preference for the lineup.

The core of the rocket, small ball

jumbo version of small ball in houston The lineup has the most effective frontcourt combination of Smith and Durant. There is no shortage of data on how these two have performed this season.

As of Friday night, Houston has three of five. Duo with the longest playing time in the NBA this season. They are Smith and Amen Thompson He played 1,455 minutes, Durant and Thompson played 1,419 minutes, and Durant and Smith played 1,413 minutes. All three lineups have pluses/minuses. However, Smith and Durant are the best at +193. Unsurprisingly, this is Houston’s highest price Overall plus/minus sum.

The duo ranks #1 with a plus/minus of +4.9 per 36 minutes. a little low. However, it is notable that many of the top-ranked duos with over 300 minutes of play time include: steven adams. Adams was consistently the Rockets’ best plus/minus player until he suffered a season-ending injury. The only duo with closer to the same minutes than Durant and Smith is Thompson and Sengun, at +5.1 in 1,305 overs.

How the Durant-Jabari Smith duo performs without a center

To properly understand how the KD-Smith pairing works as the foundation of a “small-ball” lineup, you need to compare it to Houston’s lineup that includes center. Durant, Smith, Adams lineup +10.7 per 36 minutes (+111, 375 minutes). Durant, Smith, and Sengan +4.3 per 36 minutes (+109, 913 minutes). Durant, Smith, and clint capella teeth -0.8 per 36 minutes (-3, 143 minutes).

Of course, that’s 1,431 minutes, more time than Durant and Smith have played together. That’s because Houston prefers a double big, with Adams and Sengun’s playing time overlapping. of Durant, Smith, Adams, Sengan The lineup only totals +12 in 120 minutes.

Capela is underutilized in double-big lineups due to his lack of offensive flexibility. Capela and Adams have never played together. Capela and Sengun are -7 for 105 minutes, but Capela, Sengun, Durant, Smith -5 in just 5 minutes.

Combined, Durant and Smith play 1,306 minutes with at least one center for +210. Overall +193 for 1,413 minutes. That means -17 in 107 minutes without a center. This is about -5.7 per 36. In other words, it’s not very good.

However, it’s important to note that the Rockets can no longer part with Adams to improve their plus/minus. The best comparison right now is the trio of Capela, Smith, and Durant. Still, technically, Capela’s lineup is far ahead.

Durant’s Small Ball vs. Charlotte

In fact, even in the games Durant is talking about, small ball wasn’t completely successful.

At the Charlotte game, Complete “Small Ball” lineup Still, it was -1 overall. it was durant and smith dorian finney smith, jeshawn tateand Tali Eason.

Durant especially 5:24 of the second quarter Until the end of the first half. During that time, none of Houston’s centers stepped on the floor. The Rockets went from trailing 45-38 to winning 53-52, increasing their lead by eight points.

Small ball was also relevant. Game ends 4:37during which Sengun frequently appeared as a substitute for Finney-Smith. Foul trouble wasn’t a concern for Sengun, as he only committed two fouls in the entire game. The Rockets held an eight-point lead when these changes began, but ultimately won by four points.

Will small ball help Houston?

However, the fact that Houston never completely lost the lead is important. Rockets fans are used to seeing games slip away in moments like this. Durant obviously does too. It remains to be seen whether this tactical approach to late-game substitutions will significantly improve Houston’s fortunes in a crisis.

It also remains to be seen whether Houston will try to generate points on a smaller scale more often or if it will have repeatable success. They have a good opportunity to conduct experiments in the coming weeks. Strength of Houston’s post-All-Star break schedule. But apparently, Durant is already a fan, and if his Twitter “leaks” are to be believed, he’s not an easy guy to please.

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