With Chris Paul out tonight due to load management, the Rockets will start forward Danuel House in his place.
House was converted from his two-way deal on Tuesday and didn’t see the floor against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday so this news comes at a bit of a shock.
“Might as well throw him into the fire,” said head coach Mike D’Antoni before the game on Friday.
D’Antoni noted that a big part of what went into his decision to start House was Houston’s need for experimentation and understanding the roster before the regular season is up.
“We have 14 games left,” said D’Antoni. “We have to know what we’re going to do when the playoffs starts.”
House started 12 of his 25 games with the Rockets and faired very well, shooting 39% from three-point range and adding length and explosiveness to Houston’s rotation.
For the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League, House averaged averaged 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks on an efficient 56.6% true shooting.
Though the move comes as a surprise, it may give an insight as to what Houston would like to do going forward with House. The Rockets have been trying to fill a need at the wing position and House fits seamlessly into Houston’s switching scheme on defense.
