The Houston Rockets are now guaranteed the Western Conference second seed. On Wednesday night, against the Los Angeles Clippers, they took advantage of the fact. The Rockets were resting four starters and sticking the ball in the hands of forgotten rookie guard Reed Sheppard and project sophomore Cam Whitmore. The Rockets lost the game. Don’t expect them to be deterred from the strategy in Houston’s few remaining games.
Resting Rockets Change Tact With 2 Seed Tied Up
On Tuesday night, the Rockets clinched the Western Conference two-seed on their day off. The Los Angeles Lakers needed to win out to have a chance at catching the 52-win Rockets. Instead, they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Houston may have been helped out by Luka Doncic‘s late ejection. The referee thought Doncic was directing a tirade at him, whereas the true intended recipient was an OKC fan. The fact that the league later rescinded the associated technical will be a small comfort to any Lakers fans hoping for a shot at the two-spot.
The Reed Sheppard Road Show
Indeed, the Rockets’ next game certainly would have had a more electric atmosphere if the two-seed were still up for grabs. The Rockets and Lakers will play their penultimate games of the season against one another in LA on Friday night. The Lakers will still have something to play for. The Rockets, on the other hand, will probably carry on with the Reed Sheppard road show.
Sheppard put together one of his best games of the season against the Clippers. He finished with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and six made threes. He was the focal point of Houston’s offense. At least when veteran Aaron Holiday wasn’t busy making his case for a playoff rotation spot/roster spot next season.
Unfortunately, with how often Sheppard was inexplicably left as the low man in Houston’s discombobulated help situations, he was also made a focal point of the defense. Those possessions did not typically end well. Indeed, they contributed to Houston legend, now Clippers star, James Harden finally scoring 30 against all 30 NBA teams. Still, even resting starters, the Rockets were able to make the game competitive deep into the fourth quarter. These are the kinds of games that can contribute to players taking leaps over the offseason. Sheppard is likely to get two more of them.
A Reason for Rockets to Reject Resting
There is an argument for the Rockets to take the Lakers game a little more seriously, though, and it comes down to matchup preferences. With the two-seed secured, the Rockets have it within their power to potentially engineer the third and fourth seeds as well. The Denver Nuggets are one game back from the Lakers. Denver happens to be the Rockets’ last opponent of the season.
So if the Rockets were to beat LA, and then go back to resting versus Denver, they could possibly nudge the Nuggets over to Houston’s side of the draw at the Lakers’ expense. Whether Houston would want to do that is another matter. The Rockets have gone 1-1 against both opponents in 2024-25. The Lakers have undergone an extreme makeover since the Rockets’ one win over them, though, stealing Doncic out from under the poor people of Dallas’ noses. Something said people made sure to air their grievances about in Doncic’s return on Thursday night.
Such is the extent of LA’s overhaul, another reason Houston may want to play the Friday meeting out would be to get a better handle on how the new Lakers squad operates. They lost their post-Doncic acquisition encounter with the Lakers. If the two teams were going to clash in the second round, an extra scouting opportunity wouldn’t necessarily hurt. However, it would present the same opportunity to their LA opponents.
Why Matchup Shenanigans Are Unlikely
There’s also been a pretty significant makeover in Denver recently, anyway. The team broke up the toxic leadership feud between head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth by firing both contenders. Besides, there’s the fact that Houston hasn’t actually faced Denver’s one true leader, Nikola Jokic, all season.
Of course, the hard-nosed Houston head coach, Ime Udoka, might not go in for matchup shenanigans. “Play the opponent in front of you” would probably be his philosophy. However, that would apply more so if the proposition were trying to force matchups by losing. Forcing matchups by winning would certainly appeal to him more. But resting the Rockets’ battered starting center (Alperen Sengun)and recently injured point guard (Fred VanVleet) still likely trumps it.
The matter isn’t entirely within Houston’s power anyway. The Lakers hold the tiebreaker over Denver, so they would have to lose both of their remaining games to fall to third. That’s made an unlikely proposition by their final opponent being the lowly Portland Trail Blazers.
The Last Word
The Rockets earned their spot with two tactical wins over OKC and the Golden State Warriors. With the playoffs right around the corner, now is the time for Rockets fans to enjoy the quiet before the storm. If that’s trying to mess with the Lakers, then so be it. More likely, it’ll be trying to exorcise some demons from Sheppard’s disappointing rookie season. Also, expect to see Jalen Green continuing to suit up as he keeps his 184 active games streak alive. The young Rockets have a big voyage ahead of them, their first foray into postseason basketball. Houston resting as much as possible the rest of the way is exactly what the doctor ordered, even if a Lakers wrestling match would be orders of magnitude more entertaining.
Photo credit: © Erik Williams-Imagn Images
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