The Houston Rockets were blown out by the Golden State Warriors in game one of their series despite the fact that Stephen Curry was limited in the game due to an ankle injury. The Rockets barely squeaked into the playoffs, and nobody expects them to even win a game in this series, but it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments they make.
One of the big problems with the Rockets this season was that James Harden oftentimes was the only real threat on offense and basically had to do everything himself. Dwight Howard is the other star on the team, but the Rockets haven't committed to throwing him the ball on the low post all season.
Howard took just 10 shots in game one and made five of them, but he also turned the ball over five times. Going into game two you would think a player of Howard's caliber would demand the ball down low more as it would be helpful to his team, but that is not his plan.
"As a competitor, I'm going to get the job done, no matter what it takes," Howard said. "If I get the ball, if I don't get the ball, if I score two points or I score 30 points. I got to go out there and play as hard as I can as long as I'm on the floor, that's all that really matters."
While it is a good thing that Howard isn't complaining in the media about his teammates not getting him the ball, some would say Howard not demanding the ball more is a big problem for Houston. Howard is the only player, outside of Harden, that can consistently get his own shot, but the fact that he doesn't seem to want it doesn't exactly make his teammates want to give him the ball.
While some of Howard not getting the ball in the post can be blamed on his teammates, a lot of it can also be blamed on him. Howard is a great athlete and one of the best rebounders in the NBA, so if he showed more effort getting up and down the floor he could get more points on the fast break or even on the offensive glass.
Howard's lack of touches in game one even surprised Draymond Green, who said Howard was ready for them and placed the blame on Howard's teammates for not getting him the ball. Green may have a point here, but at some point Howard has to want the ball enough to virtually force his teammates to give it to him. That hasn't happened, and this is just the latest example of Howard looking like he has checked out of Houston and started to prepare for unrestricted free agency this summer.
