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The Houston Rockets are playing fantastic basketball so far this season. Eric Gordon is one of the reasons for Houston's on-court successes. However, the Rockets' third-choice scorer feels like there's a lot more that he could improve on.
Gordon is still getting himself reacquainted with the speed of the game after missing almost the first quarter of the season due to the knee surgery he had to go through in November. He has since recovered from the procedure, but feels like his performance is nowhere near where he expected to be.
He talked with ClutchPoints' Salman Ali about his condition ahead of Houston's January 3 game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and he had this to say about his condition.
Eric Gordon says he's "nowhere near" himself yet from an athleticism/explosiveness standpoint:
"I just have to continue to get in better conditioning because it's hard to condition outside of the game because the game is a lot harder. As time goes on, it's going to get better." pic.twitter.com/uDRB7oXYee
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) January 2, 2020
It's important for him to get back into top shape as quickly as possible as he is the leader of the Rockets' second unit. Most of the bench scoring, whenever either Russell Westbrook or James Harden is on the bench, falls squarely on his shoulders. Moreover, he doesn't want Mike D'Antoni's offense to stagnate with him.
A quick look at his stats will tell you that he's actually performing quite well for a player who's just returned from injury. Through 11 games, he's getting averages of 11.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists. His numbers should surely rise back to his usual production once he gets some reps in and becomes confident in pushing his knees to the limit.
The Sixers game will be a tough matchup for Houston, as they also have outstanding players in the starting unit as well as the bench. Gordon and the rest of the Rockets need to be playing their best basketball if they're going to win against them.
