In a game in which it was often difficult not to wonder how the Rockets were keeping it as close as they were, perhaps they were not.
The score was relatively close. They went into the fourth quarter down just nine with chances to change things and maybe steal a win. But from the start, the Rockets were a step slow. They missed shots they are built to take. They failed to get back defensively, allowing the Wizards more fast-break points in the first half than they average per game.
It seemed more likely that the Wizards would blow the game open than the Rockets would rally to win it. The blowout came in the fourth quarter with Mike D’Antoni clearing his bench with more than six minutes remaining.
1. Chris Paul returned from his strained groin and did not seem to have any issues with it. He said later he had no discomfort. He struggled, but the Rockets will accept that as Paul is pain-free. Mike D’Antoni even said Paul would be able to play both games of the back-to-back this week in Orlando and at home against the Warriors, before he realized that he might need to chat with trainers before making any assumptions. For now, as the Rockets face the Lakers on Sunday, they need Paul not just to play as he was before he was hurt, but in his usual place in the rotation, with the same mix as before he had to leave the previous game against the Lakers less than a minute into the fourth quarter. That won’t include Luc Mbah a Moute who is still out, but the Rockets need to not just to get Paul’s shot – he made 3 of 11 attempts against the Wizards – back, but to get the teammates who exceled around him going again. James Harden referred to a rhythm that has been missing. As ambiguous as that sounds, it is not difficult to see what he means when watching the Rockets struggle. The Rockets winning streak began on the night Paul returned with a spectacular first half in Phoenix when they seemed to be celebrating getting him back. The Rockets won 14 straight and moved to 15-0 when he played. They lost the game he left and lost when he returned on Friday, seeming more in the mood just to get the three-game road trip over with than to mark the occasion of Paul’s return. But they can look at it as a chance to start over with players returning, instead of going out.
2. Mike D’Antoni was discussing Chris Paul’s return when he said Clint Capela would be back on Sunday. He almost sounded as if he had been told Capela would miss two games and was not willing to consider the possibility that he might miss another. The two games without Capela helped demonstrate his value, especially on Friday when Tarik Black played well but Capela’s absence remained conspicuous. The Rockets need not just his 14 points and 11 rebounds, they need the threat of his rolls to the rim to force the defense into choices it does not want to make. They need him running the floor, forcing defenders to sink into the lane and draw them away from transition 3s. They need to have James Harden driving with defenders just a little hesitant to swarm to him because of the dunk that could happen behind them. Capela has become so important to the Rockets that D’Antoni said last week that he told him he had become the Rockets’ most important player. He’s not, but he does influence far more than just the play at the center position. If Black can play as he did on Friday more consistently, the Rockets could have more depth at the position. They are not ready to move Black ahead of Nene, but he has shown flashes of being able to play well in that role. Capela, however, remains vital, with that as apparent in the games he missed – five of the Rockets’ past seven – as in the game in which he played.
3. Gerald Green was signed because of injuries. He was to lighten Trevor Ariza’s load a bit. His contract is non-guaranteed, to be revisited before the Jan. 7 deadline to waive him or choose to guarantee the contract for the remainder of the season. But in just his second game, without the benefit of a practice or even a shootaround, Green scored 18 points, looking entirely at home in the Rockets offense. He even improvised a cut to the rim to take an inbounds pass with .4 left on the clock to a buzzer-beating dunk. The Rockets will not sign him for his play in half-second intervals, but he already showed why Boston’s Brad Stevens, his previous coach, said he was a perfect fit for the Rockets. Playing with Chris Paul should get Green open looks. He showed last season, especially in the playoff series against the Bulls, that he had grown into a useful defensive player. The Rockets still will want to get Luc Mbah a Moute back in his usual role. There will not be many minutes to go around. But the way the Rockets had fallen when injuries hit demonstrate that a few been-there, done-that backups on the bench in case of emergency can be valuable. Green will get a chance to back up his performance in Washington with another, but he would seem to be a player that can fit that role.