Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mike Brown has pointed to on-ball defense, indecision on offense and his players standing around when plays break down as culprits for the slow start. According to NBA.com, the Knicks trail only the Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets in frequency of shots late in the shot clock (four seconds or less), and shooting 28.8% in those situations ranks them behind only the Portland Trail Blazers in efficiency -- they were best in the league last season. Usually, that's Jalen Brunson time, as he did so often in the playoffs. But the magic hasn't been there to start the season.
Marcus Smart: “A lot of times you see guys, this league tries to turn guys into one-dimensional. We got our guys, so we need you not to do this when it’s like we can do it. And you need us to be able to do it because on nights where your guy, they’re taking them out, you need some other way to get some production. So definitely that familiarity with Ime Udoka allows me to go out there and understand that I can play free and play with confidence because I don’t have to worry and look over my shoulder every time I do something right or wrong.”
Varun Shankar: Per Udoka: Reed Sheppard is playing tonight for the #Rockets, no minutes restriction. Clint Capela is out after rolling his ankle in the last game.
Bobby Krivitsky: Per the Celtics, Paul George is out for the second half of the team's back-to-back. After missing yesterday's win against the Magic, Mitchell Robinson returns tonight against the Rockets. Devin Carter - Illness - OUT Paul George - Rest - OUT
Will Guillory: Rockets injury report: — Reed Sheppard (low back strain) and Clint Capela (right ankle sprain) are listed as questionable. — Steven Adams (right soleus strain) is out again. It’ll be the 6th straight game he’s missed.
Advertisement
The respect Smart immediately had for Udoka, because of his direct and sometimes harsh approach, was mutual. In many ways, the two of them are alike. They take pride in their toughness, their defiance, their resilience and, above all, their insatiable desire to win. So, once they had a chance to reunite in Houston five years after their only season together and finish what they started, it was a no-brainer for both. The pair, reunited, face their old team, the Celtics, Monday night. With the Rockets at 6-1 and Smart serving as a key reserve so far, the reunion is going well. “I thought he was a perfect fit who addresses a lot of what we were missing,” Udoka said in a one-on-one interview with The Athletic late last week. “I thought we lacked a little depth at point guard, and he brings that defensive identity. We still have high-level defenders, but he brings that edge and toughness and tone-setting that Dillon (Brooks) brought to us before he left the building.”
“He’s not a conventional coach. He can be very controversial. He challenges norms that most coaches wouldn’t challenge, especially against certain players,” Smart said. “That’s the beauty of who he is as a coach and who he is as a person. It’s not a facade. It’s real. I grew up around that my whole life, so it wasn’t anything new to me.”
“There are some guys who have that defensive mentality, but it’s rare to have a guy who comes into the game and impacts it the way he does on that side of the ball,” Udoka said. “You saw it with Dillon, you saw it with Pat (Beverley). There are certain guys you have to prepare for because of what they do defensively. He’s one of them.” “(Udoka’s) mentality matched mine,” Smart added. “He allowed me to be me without any persecution.”
In 2021, Smart was a beloved figure among Boston fans and an unquestioned leader in the locker room. If Udoka was going to be true to himself and establish his no-nonsense persona as head coach, he’d have to hold Smart to the same standard he held everyone else. But when first-year coaches handle these situations the wrong way, they can alienate players in irreparable ways. Udoka decided to meet with Smart one-on-one and explain why he needed to suspend him for Boston’s preseason finale and how crucial it would be for their relationship to be even stronger coming away from this one incident. “My main rule is being on time and respecting everyone’s time,” Udoka said. “After I let him know my decision, we sat down and had a good talk, and that set the tone for who we were gonna be as a team and what kind of example I wanted him to set for everybody else. That’s just how I am. I’m an equal opportunist, whether it’s the starters, the bench guys or whoever it is.”
Chris Mannix: I was preaching that Fred VanVleet is going to matter. Forget the numbers. Last couple of years he has not been a high-efficiency guy. He's still not a high-efficiency guy, but he is a steady, reliable guy out there. He's going to give you 30-ish minutes per game and be able to initiate the offense. And him being there, I've heard Kevin Durant talk about this, it allows everybody else to slot back into their usual positions. Amen Thompson doesn't need to be the point guard on this team. Reed Sheppard doesn't need to be the starting point guard on this team. Kevin Durant doesn't need to have the ball in his hands initiating some of the offense. It just allows everybody to be themselves.
Advertisement
The Rockets have upgraded Alperen Sengun (low back soreness) to available for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City. Fred VanVleet (right knee injury management) is out.
In the five games Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg have played together, the Mavericks have a 4-1 record with wins over the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder and Rockets. Dallas has outscored its opponents by 12 points per 100 possessions in the 98 minutes they have shared the floor. “We are still growing,” Irving said. “We still have a level we want to get to — a higher level. We are going to continue to push each other. We obviously know the external chatter as well and the 15-year age gap and what we are going to accomplish and how we are going to mesh. I think we threw all that out the window and just really focused on what we can control, which is our effort and how we treat each other.”
