(SportsRadio 610) -- If the small ball strategy is going to work for the Rockets, their role players will have to step up.
One of the key aspects to Houston going small, aside from not having a traditional center on the floor, is picking up the pace and spreading the ball around to spot-up shooters.
The Rockets had become known for allowing James Harden and Russell Westbrook to trade off dominating the ball. With both of them being excellent scorers, the Rockets were able secure a playoff spot in this adjusted season format.
But once they arrive to Orlando later this month, it's important the Rockets much more out of their supporting cast.
Head coach Mike D'Antoni
has talked about needing to play faster and also expanding the playoff rotation.
They need fresh legs and production.
Harden and Westbrook rank second and sixth, respectively, in
usage rate among players who have participated in more than 50 games.
No other pair of teammates comes close to ranking as high in this statistic.
Veteran Rockets guard Austin Rivers
spoke with The Athletic in a wide-ranging interview. Rivers spoke about playing at a different speed, the need for more ball movement and the opportunity for role players to step up.
"I think (D'Antoni) does want to open it up more, give guys a little bit more of opportunity just because I think teams were narrowing so much in on (Harden and Westbrook)," Rivers told The Athletic. "(It’s not that) we were playing on them too much, but that they were dominating so much of it that he wants to spread it out a little bit. Obviously it’ll be James and Russ still, but you know, I’ll have the ball more, guys like Eric (Gordon) will have the ball a lot more, and we’ll have a lot of other guys getting opportunities for shots who are spot-up guys like Danuel House or Ben (McLemore) and other guys, you know, Jeff Green who can do a little bit of everything."
The Rockets are a lock for the playoffs, currently as the Western Conference's sixth seed with eight regular season games to play. They hold a 1 1/2 -game lead over the seventh-seed Dallas Mavericks and 8 1/2-game lead over the eighth-seed Memphis Grizzlies.
