The Houston Rockets find themselves fifth in the Western Conference ladder after a surprisingly good performance from the Detroit Pistons aught them with their pants down. Some may blame the loss to the incredibly rough schedule they’ve had so far, but Clint Capela is not having any of it.
The Rockets’ defensive anchor told ClutchPoints’ Salman Ali that he expects his teammates to carry their weight on defense and play at a respectable level. However, he didn’t deny that it’s also difficult to play good defense when the teams they face are tough to score against.
“It’s the schedule. It’s tough for everybody. When it’s tough to get going offensively, we have to be able to rely on defense. To be a really great team doing big things, we have to be able to defensively be there every night consistently.”
Capela is doing a marvelous job in the paint, contributing to the offense and defense like a true old-school big. He’s averaging 14 points, 15 rebounds, an assist, and two blocks a game. He’s doing a solid job in making his presence felt down low.
However, it cannot be denied that he cannot do this alone. What made their loss to the Pistons especially painful was that players like Luke Kennard, Bruce Brown, and Tony Snell had their way with the Houston defense. Blake Griffin didn’t play a lot of minutes, and Andre Drummond was nowhere near the hardwood due to an eye injury.
Houston definitely has to step up their defensive game-planning as they have more tough matches ahead. They face the San Antonio Spurs next, to be followed by the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers. It will be a horrible week for Houston fans if their Rockets don’t manage to sort their defense out.
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