The Houston Rockets spent much of the past nine months leaning into their double-big lineup, only to make history once they went in a different direction.
Houston opened the season 0-2 with Steven Adams in the starting lineup, fielding the tallest starting five in NBA history. Then head coach Ime Udoka swapped out Adams for the more athletic Josh Okogie, as the Rockets promptly set another kind of record.
With Okogie in the lineup, Houston has gone 2-0, scoring 137+ points in each game – something they hadn't done since 1973. Still, Udoka isn't ready to make the change permanent.
Now it hasn't been all Okogie, as the double-big lineup was on the floor when the Rockets pulled away from the Raptors in the final six minutes of Wednesday's win.
“It worked out perfectly,” Udoka said after the game. “We're either going to make the shot, they're going to get the putback, or kick out to some of our guys. So, yeah, it was a good thing for us.”
Before the game, Udoka explained that he likes the bigger lineup for its ability to rebound on the offensive end, which he refers to as the “first layer of transition defense,” as it discourages opponents from leaking out on offense.
Those offensive rebounds also led to two clutch three-pointers from Kevin Durant on second-chance opportunities down the stretch, thanks to Adams.
Still, it's hard to ignore that the Rockets' offense has looked much better this week (even against lesser competition) with Okogie on the floor, as Houston has shot up to No. 1 in offensive rating through the first four games.
Furthermore, Udoka, a defensive coach, may also start favoring Okogie in the lineup for what he brings on that end of the floor. While Adams is great on the offensive glass, it has, at times, left the Rockets more vulnerable defensively. Especially when deploying their 2-3 zone, and the amount of open shots it has allowed on the perimeter.
The Rockets' offensive rebounding was neutralized in the first half by the Raptors' barrage of three-pointers, a lot of which came on open looks.
On the offense end, as valuable as Adams has been, Okogie helps with the pace, as well as spacing, opening the floor for the other playmakers. And the results have been stark: the Rockets scored 215 total points in regulation of their first two games, compared to 276 in the two games since the lineup change.
“I think I've been pretty open about the switchability with the lineup,” Udoka explained Wednesday on SportsTalk 790, the Rockets' flagship radio station. “We like the big lineup, we tinkered with that a little bit in the preseason, but Reed [Sheppard] will get opportunities at times. If they have two really good scorers, we may go with the defensive lineup with Josh [Okogie] to guard one of them and Amen [Thompson] to guard another.”
“And, so, we can go all sorts of ways honestly and I'm very comfortable with that and I think the guys are prepared for that… and at some point, when we're fully whole, we'll kind of zone in on one thing and it could be Dorian [Finney-Smith] at the time, it could be going big like we did [the first two games] or Reed for instance. Our versatility gives us options.”
Much like a good NFL team in September, the Rockets can use these first few weeks to tinker and figure things out for the long haul.
