HOUSTON -- What the Houston Rockets are doing is remarkable. Back in the day, when the Phoenix Suns did it, Mike D’Antoni could best be described as a revolutionary.
Most people hated the way D’Antoni’s Suns shot the 3.
Now the rest of the league has caught up with the veteran coach, and he couldn’t be happier. Friday night, D’Antoni’s team set a few NBA records for 3-pointers, prompting guard Eric Gordon, who has found a new life with this old revolutionary, to say the mark for most 3-pointers made in a game may come down again.
During the Rockets’ 122-100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Houston set records for 3s attempted in a half (31), in a game (61) and made (24).
"We can still be better," Gordon said. "I wouldn't doubt before the season is over we would break that record again. I think it will happen for sure this season. A lot of teams like to load up and not let us get layups, and it forces us to shoot 3s. Why not? We might have that chance again."
The next step for the Rockets is setting the league record for 3s made in a season, which the Golden State Warriors set in the 2015-16 season with 1,077. Houston is just 677 3s away.
Yes, we said just.
In terms of 3-point field goal attempts, Houston set that mark last season with 2,680 and is just, there’s that word again, 1,641 away.
The Rockets have also hit at least 10 3-pointers in an NBA record 26 consecutive games.
Houston is getting 3s because teams pack the paint when James Harden drives. Defenses would rather protect the rim gambling the Rockets miss 3s from the outside.
It’s becoming a dangerous game for opponents, because if the Rockets are on, which they have been a majority of the season, the win totals will go up. Maybe more importantly than the win totals, the Rockets become a feared team in the West.
“You got to pick one, going to the basket or Clint [Capela], our bigs rolling or the 3-ball,” said Harden, who became the franchise leader in triple-doubles at 15 with a 29-11-13 night. “We’ve got so many shooters around you, it makes the job a lot easier.”
Will it translate to victories?
When D’Antoni was running things in Phoenix, the Suns failed to reach the NBA Finals, a suspension here and there hurt that team. Two other jobs, coaching the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, didn’t provide D’Antoni with the personnel needed to make his pace-and-space offensive system work.
So when owner Leslie Alexander and GM Daryl Morey called this summer with the goal of bringing that offense back full-time for the Rockets, D’Antoni jumped at the opportunity.
What you’re seeing is a Rockets team with 20 wins, including signature road victories over Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
Houston has yet to play the other rising teams in the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies. That will occur this month, and they’ll get to see the Rockets' offensive system working at its epic pace.
The Pelicans were the latest team to deal with it, or not deal with it.
“I mean, we have a lot of weapons,” D’Antoni said. “A lot of people that spread the floor. James is James and Pat [Beverley] now is also orchestrating really well.”
Beverley almost had a triple-double, coming up just two assists shy. The Rockets had three players with 11 rebounds each: Harden, Beverley and Capela. An off night shooting by Ryan Anderson (3-for-11) didn’t slow the Rockets' offense down, as Gordon and Harden combined to go 13-of-24 from 3.
“I swear to God, we don’t go out there and try and say, ‘Yeah we’re going to try and break the record,’" Beverley said. “It just happens the way it does. I promise you it does. James penetrates, I penetrate, Eric penetrates. We hit the bigs in the pocket, and they make good plays. We’re just playing real complete basketball.”
And it’s moving the Rockets to elite status in the West.
