Robert Covington, The Third Star: Rockets vs. Lakers Game Two Preview
The Rockets are just tougher.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
How good did that feel?! After the disappointment that was game six against OKC and the terror of game seven, man oh man did we ever need a convincing, decisive victory like the Rockets gave us in game one against the Lakers Friday night.
As always, people are focused on -- and ridiculing -- how the Rockets got to where they are. What they ignore, however, is where they are: up a game on the best team in the Western Conference, in a series where their unconventional makeup is posing more threats to the Lakers than advantages, with a very real chance of beating the Lakers Sunday night.
Game one was a bona fide success. What do they need in Sunday’s game two to strong-arm the Lakers into an 0-2 deficit?
Game 1 Harden, not game 7 Harden
In the NBA, no matter how good your team is, at the end of the day you will only go as far as your superstar takes you. In game seven, Harden was brutal offensively, with a measly true shooting percentage of 44.5. Thanks to stellar late-game defense and hot three-point shooting from Robert Covington (6-11), Eric Gordon (5-9) and Jeff Green (3-4), the Rockets escaped the OKC series victorious. But last night was a different story. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the court, Harden was definitively the best player out there, lighting up the Lakers to the tune of 36 points on 20 field goal attempts. Harden was the killer his critics demand he be during the playoffs. He’s now averaging 30.5 points per game on excellent efficiency (63.0% TS). Whether or not he can maintain this level of play is the most important thing for the Rockets for the rest of this series and the rest of the playoffs.Â
Robert Covington, the third star
The Rockets came into this series with the best defensive rating of any team in the postseason. Game one was their best defensive performance of the season, holding the Lakers to just 98 (!) points per 100 possessions. Their anchor on that end has been none other than the new guy, Robert Covington.
Covington has been everything advertised and more this postseason. He’s now averaging 2.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in just 32.3 minutes per game in addition to his hot surge from beyond the arc. Instead of giving him the LeBron James matchup as one might have expected, Mike D’Antoni is reserving him as an off-ball weapon, at least until he no longer can. Covington’s instinctual defensive ability, quick hands and long arms make him an elite off-ball defender to go with prowess on the ball. As an offensive player, his quick trigger, high release point and long range make him a marvelously valuable floor-spacer for Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Robert Covington is in Houston to help the Rockets win a championship.
This defense!
Covington is spear-heading this defensive effort, but he is far from the only reason the Rockets have already shown they can handle the Lakers’ offense at a high level. The most important thing the Rockets did in game one and can do moving forward is goad the Lakers into acting on their worst impulses. Among non-garbage time Lakers in game one, Alex Caruso had the highest usage rating. Rajon Rondo had the fourth-highest. Anthony Davis, who has half a foot on whoever is guarding him, continued to take fadeaway jumpers and only shot four free throws. Not only does the Rockets’ small-ball cause problems for teams who don’t have the requisite mobility to keep up, but it also leads to the opponents seeing mirages of matchup advantages that aren’t actually there.
This Rockets team is real. Let’s see if they can grab this series by the throat tomorrow.