After the successful launch of a new-look lineup in Saturday’s 30-point win, the Houston Rockets plan to continue starting Ben McLemore at small forward for the time being over former starter Danuel House Jr.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni announced the move just before Saturday’s game, citing a need to improve the team’s offense and providing a more stable backup to P.J. Tucker at power forward in the form of House.
The move paid immediate dividends, since Tucker was lost after just two minutes with a right shoulder “stinger” injury — but House proved capable of being an adequate replacement for many of his minutes.
As such, D’Antoni said at Monday’s practice that Houston would again start McLemore for Tuesday night’s game at Memphis (18-22).
House isn’t nearly the physical presence that Tucker is, but at 6-foot-6, he does have approximately the same length. That seems to be a better fit for the Houston bench behind Tucker than most of D’Antoni’s other options, which generally consist of centers (Isaiah Hartenstein, Tyson Chandler) or guards such as McLemore, Eric Gordon, or Austin Rivers.
It helps that McLemore is shooting well, which provides the desired floor spacing for backcourt starters James Harden and Russell Westbrook. At 6-foot-3, McLemore doesn’t have nearly the length or defensive versatility of House, but he does provide advantages on offense.
In his last five games, McLemore is averaging 10.2 points in 22.4 minutes on 55.9% shooting overall and 46.4% on 3-pointers. By contrast, House has slumped over that same period — averaging 5.4 points in 31.3 minutes on 38.5% shooting overall and 33.3% from 3-point range.
House fared better in his new role on Saturday, posting 9 points and 7 rebounds in 31 minutes on 3-of-4 shooting (2-of-3 on 3-pointers).
Though Tucker is expected to return from his injury Tuesday night in Memphis, he’s also 34 years old. As such, D’Antoni is trying to find ways to avoid overextending the minutes of his veteran defensive ace over the grind of an 82-game NBA regular season — and having House on the bench might be the easiest way to accomplish that goal.
At the very least, D’Antoni has no reason to consider changing it back as long as the team is winning games. Houston (26-12) has won four of its last five games overall, and they’ll look to keep that momentum going in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. tip-off from Memphis, Tennessee.
