The competition will be tough in the NBA's Western Conference and the Houston Rockets are well aware. After not getting a big-named player this offseason despite meeting with players like LaMarcus Aldridge, the Rockets are confident in the versatility they have on the court with their current roster heading into opening night. The highlight of that versatility is Ty Lawson who could quickly become the favorite either as a starter or off the bench.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Lawson has likely taken the starting spot from Patrick Beverley who will be coming off the bench. In the preseason, head coach Kevin McHale attempted to play both point guards at the same time, an experiment that could happen during the regular season, but injuries prevented the idea from coming to fruition before the year begins. McHale notes that he would like to see if would work at some point since both players offer something different.
"I want to see if it works," McHale said, via Chronicle. "I'm going to try a lot of people together. We're going to go small with different things. I just think Pat and Ty give us a different look. Why we do anything, to see if it works. But I'm going to take a look at it. The efficiency and effectiveness of it will determine if we stay with it or if we go, 'Oh, that's not going to work.' "
Both Beverley and Lawson dealt with injuries that hurt progress in the preseason, but both players are expected to be fine for the regular season. Lawson is very confident the offense figures itself out very quickly as the point guard stressed chemistry just needs to be found. James Harden agreed with the idea as he believes a few mental errors are holding the team back.
"We're good," said Harden, via ESPN.com. "For us in the first half we played pretty well and we had a couple of mental lapses and gave up a couple of shots that we got to work on. In second half, I think we got tired and guys were playing a lot of minutes and whatnot but we're not really worried about it. We got a couple of days before we really get started, practice time we'll go over it figure it out and then we'll be ready."
One issue for the Rockets could be injuries, something already playing a role in the preseason. According to ESPN, Dwight Howard is listed as day-to-day with a back injury. The center is expected to be fine for the start of the year, but it is not a good sign for the Rockets. Howard continues to deal with injuries and it is something Houston is hopeful is not becoming a chronic issue.
