As difficult as it has been at times this season to get a handle on the Rockets, they could get a strong indication in the next few days.

They’ll learn more when Tracy McGrady and Brent Barry return from injuries, and that does not seem likely anytime soon.

Ron Artest and Shane Battier will likely be gimpy through most of the month. The role players stepping in with all the injuries have been spectacularly inconsistent.

But the Rockets had shown signs of getting their offense, limited by injuries as it might be, in gear last week with consecutive home wins against the Clippers and Warriors. They scored 103 points against the Clippers, which was their most since the second game of the season, then rolled up 131 against the Warriors, their most since 1995.

 

They meet those teams on the road this week, going to Golden State before playing the second half of a back-to-back in Los Angeles.

Though teams don’t generally measure themselves with games against the Warriors and Clippers, this will offer a look into the Rockets. It will offer a chance to see if those games indicated the way they can play consistently, or if after a bad loss and encouraging win since, they will continue to be stuck in a trap of taking one step forward and one step back.

If there’s anyone out there who believes all three of those things, he/she had a field day Monday night.
With Jamal Crawford manning the point in Ellis’ continued absence, Marco Belinelli getting an unusually high number of minutes with Jackson out of action and Anthony Morrow offered an opportunity to relive his early season glory days in place of the injured Maggette, the Warriors looked like a completely different team in Oklahoma City.
Considering that they’d lost their previous nine games, that’s a good thing.
Struggling to find a ball-distributing answer with Davis gone and Ellis still recovering from off-season surgery, the Warriors took a new path to the hoop against the Thunder. They went through the pivot, with surprising results.
Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf combined for nine assists—one more than the rest of the team combined—and also found time for 26 points and 26 rebounds to lead the way with arguably the club’s three best little guys on the sidelines.
Is this the way of the future for the Warriors? It just might be if Ellis, who is not considered a true point guard, struggles with his new role upon returning from his ankle injury either later this month or in January.
And if Biedrins is going to respond to his additional touches with 17 points and 21 rebounds, why not?

 

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