The Rockets Team Dynamic is the Real Winner

By Jean Louise Webb

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James Harden was the driving force for the Houston Rockets during their 2016–2017 season. But the 2017–2018 season has come with a major change, the addition of Chris Paul. Most would assume having two power players on one NBA team would cause problems. But for the Rockets it is the complete opposite.

Critics were skeptical when Mike D’Antoni added Paul to the roster. The Rockets and Clippers played very different styles of basketball. The Rockets averaged 102.5 possessions compared to the Clippers 98.2 possessions.

The Rockets went 55–27 last season compared to their current record this season of 44–13 and are standing at the top of the Western Conference.

When Paul was asked about the trade he responded, “It’s not about me coming here just to help him. He’s going to help me. We’re going to help each other. We’re going to help this team hopefully get to where we want to be.”

Not only do the Rockets have two star players, but they also have incredible depth to their team.

“You can see our blueprint of what we want to do,” D’Antoni said after the preseason win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “We’re going to switch a lot and have very dynamic guys coming off the bench… Eric came off the bench, Luc and P.J. [too]. Those three guys guarding people, we can be really good defensively. And that’s what it’s going to have to be if we want to be really good this year.”

With all the trading happening in the league right now, it is obvious the Rockets have a huge advantage when it comes to their team dynamic and depth of the bench. The Rockets all want to win and Paul emphasized, “I think coach said it: When you want to win, you’ll do whatever it takes. I know James has that; I know I do. Whoever is in our locker room from day one, we’re going to talk about sacrificing and doing whatever you have to do to help us win.”

The Rockets are willing to sacrifice for each other in order to win and are obviously having a good time while playing together.