The Rockets are well aware of what veteran guard Fred VanVleet provides, particularly his ability to score and distribute the basketball without committing turnovers.
When VanVleet is unavailable, the Rockets remain a work in progress. But Houston took a step forward on Sunday when VanVleet was sidelined with a knee injury, cruising to a 117-106 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Rockets could get their trusty veteran back on Wednesday, as VanVleet told The Houston Chronicle that he is good to go for the team’s NBA Cup quarterfinal clash against the visiting Golden State Warriors.
VanVleet averages 16 points per game — good for third on the team — and leads the Rockets with 5.9 assists while committing just 1.2 turnovers.
Against the Clippers, the Rockets’ ran offense through Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green and VanVleet’s replacement, Amen Thompson. The results were positive, as Sengun and Thompson combined for 10 assists while Green led all scorers with 31 points. VanVleet was missed, but Houston found an alternate path to victory.
“He’s such a calming influence for the team that kind of gets us into what we need to a lot,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of VanVleet, who is in his ninth NBA season and his second with Houston.
“You still want guys to grow and learn that, so when he’s not out there they’re forced to do it a little bit more,” Udoka said. “We then can go through a few different guys to initiate offense. Figure out other ways to do it. When a guy is down we’ve done a good job of stepping up. Figure out how to do it by committee.”
Added Green: “Fred is a big part of our team but I think we held it down for him. It’s going to be good momentum going into Wednesday.”
Houston will need all the positive momentum it can generate against the Warriors, who have won 15 consecutive games in the series following a 99-93 win last Thursday in San Francisco.
The Rockets trailed by 31 points in the first half of the first meeting between the teams this season and rallied to force overtime before falling 127-121 in overtime at home on Nov. 2.
Wednesday’s winner will advance to face either Dallas or Oklahoma City in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry for both of the teams’ prior meetings this season and Draymond Green (left calf) was sidelined in the victory last week.
Both returned and played pivotal roles in a 114-106 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Curry tallied a game-high 30 points with eight assists, while Green added six points, six rebounds and seven assists.
The Rockets and Warriors have contested memorable postseason battles in the past decade, with Golden State eliminating Houston in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. The Warriors’ wins in 2015 and 2018 sent them to the NBA Finals.
While the NBA Cup won’t match the intensity of those playoff matchups, the energy on Wednesday will still be higher than a normal regular-season meetup.
“There’s still an appreciation for a moment, like a build-up for a game,” Curry said. “We all want to get to Vegas for sure so we’ll give everything we’ve got to it. It’s a little different context than the playoffs.”
