The Rockets defeated the Grizzlies 103-96, Dillon was undoubtedly the best in the game, he scored 26 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal on 10-of-20 shooting, killed the suspense with a layup and three-pointers in the final quarter, and completed a desperate interception at the last minute to make the Grizzlies surrender. Dillon has now made three kills against his old club, the Grizzlies, and the last meeting between the two sides will be on February 15, 2024. In that game, Morant will play, and it will be up to the Rockets to complete the sweep.
The Rockets are strong right now, and they're the strongest team defensively this season. If offense is excluded, the Rockets have not lost 18 years on their own defense. The defensive configuration of the 18 pinnacle Rockets is Harden, Paul, Ariza, Tucker and Capela, plus Bamot and Gordon off the bench. These seven people can change defenses infinitely, and they are full of lineup flexibility. But the current rocket configuration is not lost at all.
Starting without the average defensive Jalen Green, Van Jordan and Dillon are all defensible, and Smith has grown into a top-level 3-and-D No. 4, focusing on the opposition top scorer every game. Pretty much the best candidate for the Rockets to defend from the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position, especially when it comes to crunch time. The Rockets' everlasting lineup is Van Jordan, Ethan, Smith, Dillon and Jeff Green. This is the Rockets' strongest harvest lineup. Van Jordan and Dillon in the backcourt, Eason grabbed the ball at the third position to grab rebounds, Smith was at the fifth position, and Jeff Green was at the fourth position.
'23 rookies Amen and White Devil Whitmore are also known for their defense, but they don't have much time with the Rockets. So the Rockets' sixth-best record in the West this season comes from defense. There is a saying in the NBA that defense wins championships. We're not saying the Rockets have a chance to win this year, but defense does give them a solid win. No matter how far behind you are, as long as the defense can hold on and wait for the feeling to pick up, then everything is possible. Today, the Rockets fell behind by 15 points in the first quarter and slowly pulled back by defense.
In fact, it's not a game or two, but a lot of games that are pulled back by defense. In the 21 draft, the Rockets got Jalen Green and Shen Jing, and only Shen Jing played at present, and Jalen Green is getting worse and worse. But the '22 Rockets were definitely a bloody year, and Tanhua Smith shot a lot more in his sophomore year this year than in his rookie season. And Ethan, who is the 17th pick, is moving towards a young version of Leonard, and his steals and rebounding ability really has the style of Leonard when he was young.
In '19, Leonard said after the Raptors won the championship: "The rebounding macho man gets paid".
Indeed, the reason why Ethan has been able to spend more than 20 minutes in the last three games and steal a lot of time from Jalen Green is from his rebounding ability and defense, as well as his own 3D attributes. Ethan is 203 meters, arm span 218 meters is slightly shorter than a small card, but it is about the size of a palm. In other words, Ethan also has a big hand of Leonard's level, which also gives Ethan an advantage when grabbing rebounds. In his last three games, Eason has averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes per game, shooting 56 percent from the field and a staggering 75 percent from three-point range.
Eason has played in 15 games so far this season, averaging just 19 minutes per game9 points 73 plates 12 assists and 1 cap, shooting 474% and 43 three-point shooting8%。Leonard is a 15th pick in 11, and Ethan is a 17th pick in 22, in fact, the outside world has similar hardware for both of them. But the reason why so many teams are giving up on Ethan is that there are rumors that Ethan has a low ball quotient. We don't know if it's a rumor that the Rockets deliberately put it, but Ethan does have no one to grab with the Rockets. From the current point of view, the Rockets have made a lot of money, and they can use the Nets to win the billet that can become Leonard in the future. Ethan is already practicing the ball-handling offense, and with the addition of 3D attributes, development is the cornerstone.