In this week’s edition of Rockets Rewind, let’s step into the film room to understand where the Rockets have succeeded offensively of late, Isaiah Hartenstein explaining his success defending Kevin Durant and other takeaways.



Isolation offense



In the past week, Houston faced the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. All three teams implemented different pick-and-roll coverages to slow down James Harden and Chris Paul on isolation possessions. Denver instituted hedging, trapping and sometimes simple zone-up to mitigate paint penetration. Golden State was eager to switch every ball-screen, stepping up into Harden or Paul coming around the single high or double screen. The Kings played more conventional pick-and-roll defense, dropping a big back into the paint.



In October, Houston was 1-5 and had the second-worst field-goal percentage in the entire NBA at 41.2. In November, with a 7-2 record, that percentage is now 45. Just in...