McHale considering resting key starters as regular season concludes The team has all but clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and the home-court advantage in the first round that comes with it. With no major chance to move up or down in the seedings, the focus turns to when Pat Beverley and Dwight Howard will begin working their way back to postseason speed from recent injuries. Coach Kevin McHale has not been given a target date for either Howard or Beverley to return, but he will consider giving some of his busiest players a night off. He even hinted that could come when his missing starters return, citing Wednesday’s game in Denver as a possibility. “We’ll look at tomorrow night tomorrow night,” McHale said of the potential to rest regulars, presumably James Harden or Chandler Parsons. “If some of our injured guys maybe have a really good day today in their rehab, maybe they’ll get a few minutes tomorrow night, so maybe you can rest a couple guys.” This is exactly what I've been hoping to hear. As many have said, a rested Harden and Parsons is critical to a deep playoff run. This break will also allow us to work Bev/Howard back into the rotation--while spreading starter minutes to Asik, DMo, Canaan, Garcia and Lin. We'll need our starters rested and our bench to step up BIG TIME if we hope to advance past the 2nd round.
Good to hear. It definitely makes some of our game results unpredictable, but long as we have HCA and the 4th seed locked down, I think rest and getting the deeper parts of our roster in rhythm and ready to go will be critical to make any sort of real noise in the play offs. Personally I think he should rest Parsons first (does the guy EVER get any rest?), but I wouldn't be shocked if he puts Harden on ice since his style of play has to put a beating on him as well. Good news all around.
definitely rest Jones tonight, he deserves it and could use the night off to avoid any more spasms or unnecessary muscle tweaks. would be nice to have the 4 seed locked tho
Agreed. Here's what Harden and Parsons had to say. “We should make sure we are locked in first,” Harden said. “I feel good. We’re in a good place right now. As long as we’re healthy and on the same page, we’ll be all right.” Harden has averaged 38.2 minutes per game, fifth-most in the league. Parsons has played 37.8 minutes, sixth-most. According to NBA data, the 2.7 miles he runs per game is the most in the league. But Parsons and Harden said they don’t feel worn out. “It’s tough to do,” Parsons said of skipping games when healthy. “I never want to sit out. I’m 25 years old. I don’t feel like I need rest. But if it would be beneficial to us winning in the playoffs, obviously I would do it. I just don’t want to miss games and not be 100 percent for the playoffs or not be game-ready.” Someone please tell Chandler that his legs need the rest. Jump shots that continuously hit the front rim are a clear indicator of tired legs. With him fully rested, I see a playoff shooting tear on the horizon.
Yeah, but they haven't actually clinched home court yet. They only need to go 2-3 the rest of the way(assuming Portland wins out), but let's be honest. They want to get those 2 wins as quickly as possible. No way in hell do you want to have to win against San Antonio next week or at New Orleans in the season ender in order to secure the 4th seed. Which means the Rockets really need to win 2 out of their next 3 games. I say play the normal lineup, get the 2 wins, THEN rest Harden and Parsons(while giving Howard and Bev limited minutes).
Back to back road games ending in the thin air of Denver. They get in late after the long commute from the airport. Forget it. Rest these guys, as the odds are stacked, we're going to be tired/sore ....and somebody could get hurt.
Magic number is 2 right? I agree with resting key players, but that would consist of Harden and Parsons only and I'd still play them during the first half. Big minutes for Lin and and Canaan. And of course work DH and Bev back in as they become available (the main reason for playing Harden and Parsons during the fist half).
The Blazers have a very easy, most games @ home, schedule coming up. I can see them winning all of their last 5 games (Vs. Clippers is the last game of the season and Doc Rivers might rest his starters). Rockets have a much more difficult schedule with some tough games on the road and back to backs. We need to win as many of the remaining games as possible to clinch the 4th seed.
Seriously resting Harden and Parsons means 25 minutes a game. On the front end of back to backs in blow out games they log close to 30.
I don't like it... this team isn't seasoned enough to afford this type of luxury. They're still evolving together, they don't bring it every game, they don't execute like robots, not yet... I heard Morey on the radio, he's obviously not concerned about rust, continuity, repetition - things JVG would preach. I'm not for this at all. I'm tired of limping into the playoffs then trying to turn it all back on. We're not the Spurs or Heat, we haven't proven anything. We're not consistent.
Yes, to clinch 4th our magic number is 2. Portland still has to play the Warriors and Clippers, although those games are at home. They will probably finish 3 games behind us. The altitude combined with our fatigue from playing last night would have more of a toll on Harden or Parsons.
The Rockets will win 2 out of 5 games against teams that have already packed it up for the regular season - or Portland will drop a game. It's done. Harden and/or Parsons should rest against Denver if it'll help.
Good move. 4th is pretty much locked so it's a no brainer. Mainly Parsons and Harden could do with some rest. I would like to see Howard play around 3 games before the playoffs if possible to get rid of any rust and get back to proper game conditioning.
I agree. I think rest is important, but I definetly wouldn't sit players out for entire games if they're healthy. Not with this team.
I don't think McHale is just going to sit out Harden, Parsons, Howard and Beverley all together the rest of the season. You may see limited minutes for Parsons and Harden and them miss a game or two.
