As much as the Rockets enjoy the advantages of their talent -- from Yao Ming's size and shooting touch, to Ron Artest's strength and shooting range to Tracy McGrady's overall offensive flair -- sometimes it gets in the way.
Through much of the preseason, and in the two home games of the regular season, the Rockets seemed more focused on taking turns than running an offense. That often worked. All three can get shots that they can reliably make, though McGrady is struggling after missing most of the preseason while rehabilitating his sore left knee.
The problem is that it often leaves the Rockets standing around offensively, or moving dangerously slowly, waiting for the other guy to score.
Against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets made just 36.4 percent of their shots, with nearly as many turnovers (17) as assists (18).
"We got to move our bodies and move the basketball," point guard Rafer Alston said.
So far, however, the Rockets have moved slowly.
"It seemed like the first half we took the first option, forced the play if it wasn't there," coach Rick Adelman said. "We were not moving the ball.
"We just didn't move well without the ball. We did everything with the ball, with no hard cuts. There was no activity, and you have to play together as a team, as five guys out there. We seemed to want to do everything off the dribble, with one guy dribbling. I don't know if we were being lazy or what, but we just can't play that way."
The problem, however, is that they keep winning that way. They know that won't last. The Celtics are up next, bringing the team that had the NBA's best defense last season.
The Rockets have had moments, particularly in Dallas, when they showed they can run their offense. So far, however, they seem to be leaning on all that talent.
ROCKETS 89, THUNDER 77: For the second consecutive game, the Rockets did enough through three quarters to give themselves a chance to do much more in the fourth. In Dallas, the Rockets elevated their defense and put it together with a strong offensive game to open a safe lead. Against Oklahoma City on Saturday, they picked up their offense to the levels that their defense had played through the night, opened up a 16-point lead and cruised to the win. And as with Thursday's win, when second-year guard Aaron Brooks offered a big lift, scoring 14 off the bench, second-year forward Carl Landry provided the needed jolt, scoring eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and finishing with a career-high 11 rebounds.
