Switching to second unit won’t change Anderson’s role
Though Ryan Anderson on Friday was moved to the second unit for just the second time this season, he said his role will not change and that he has no issues with coming off the bench.
“I’m used to it,” said Anderson, who had started just 159 of his 484 games in eight seasons before signing with the Rockets before the 2016-17 season. “I don’t know what it’s going to be moving forward, but I’m ready for whatever. I know I can contribute for this team regardless, if it’s starting or coming off the bench. I’ve come off the bench and started a lot in my career, both. Coach talked to me, coming back from my ankle (sprain) we didn’t have any time to practice or get in the gym together. I’ll be fine.”
Off the bench, Anderson plays more minutes with just one of the point guards on the floor, potentially offering him more possessions on the wing, rather than running to the corners. He made all three of his 3-pointers on Friday and is making 38.6 percent of his 3s this season.
“At the end of the day, l’m a role player on this team,” Anderson said. “I space the court for those guys. I can’t necessarily control how many shots I get. I just need to be aggressive going into pick-and-rolls, play the same way if I’m starting or come off the bench.”
P.J. Tucker is starting in place of Anderson, with Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni saying he could change back at any time.
“It’s good. We could go either way. We’re in such a good rhythm, why break it up?” D’Antoni said. “Ryan hasn’t practiced (prior to Friday’s game since the ankle injury). Nothing Ryan has done at all. We could go back or we could stay. There’s all kinds of combos we can use, but whatever combo, it looks pretty good.”
Defending the arc key in winning streak
As much emphasis as the Rockets have long put on shooting 3s, a key to their seven-game winning streak has been how they have defended the 3-point line. Opponents have made just 32.4 percent of their 3s, the fifth-best 3-point defense in the NBA in that stretch, with the Nuggets going just 3-of-28 from the 3-point line on Friday, making the fewest 3s with the worst percentage (10.7 percent) against the Rockets this season.
“We can switch and we can keep the man in front,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Now, it’s just mostly hunker down, stay in front of your man and taking away 3s and make him take hard twos.”
Much of the difference, forward P.J. Tucker said, has been from making defending the 3-point line a priority.
“We’re really putting an emphasis on it,” Tucker said. “Before we talked about it, but we were giving up so many of them, Jeff (Bzdelik) was on us about really closing out, then the next guy being ready to help.”
In the Rockets’ seven-game winning streak, they have averaged the second-fewest turnovers per game, allowing by far the fewest points off turnovers per game (9.1).
“Everything’s a lot better because our turnovers are down a lot, which means they have a lot less run-outs on us,” D’Antoni said. “That means our defense, which has always been really good in the halfcourt, is now really good, because they are either taking it out of the net or we’re back set up. We don’t have those bad turnovers where we cannot guard. In the last 15 games, we’re (third) in the league in fewest turnovers.”