The way Eric Gordon should see it, Game 4 will count only as the beginning.

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The Houston Rockets guard will enter the starting lineup for Tuesday night’s Game 5 against the San Antonio Spurs, building off a 22-point game in the Rockets’ Game 4 conquest in Houston. In starting the pivotal Game 5, Gordon and the Rox will look to push the Spurs to a 3-2 disadvantage with a continued bout of heady, yet rapidly paced play.

Of course, Gordon’s emergence into the starting five isn’t just an example of meritocracy at work. Rockets big man Nene, a 34-year-old veteran whose importance has grown leaps and bounds as his first campaign in Houston moved toward the postseason, will miss the rest of the playoffs with a left adductor injury.

The Rockets will move to showcase the starting five that led off the second half in Game 4’s win, one that features Ryan Anderson moving to the bench (from starting power forward to reserve center) while slotting Gordon alongside guards James Harden, and Patrick Beverley. Versatile swingman Trevor Ariza (still stuck on Kawhi Leonard duty) and screening center Clint Capela will round out the starting quintet, and James Harden will likely have to guard a 7-footer or two on Tuesday.

If the idea of “Ryan Anderson, backup center” doesn’t scan well, do listen to the man who has been explaining away these sorts of smallish lineups for over a decade now, 66-year-old Birthday Boy (on Monday) Mike D’Antoni:

Mike D'Antoni credits GM @dmorey for the versatile roster that has allowed his team to flourish this season. #Rockets pic.twitter.com/7IAvN0Y9hD — Daniel Gotera (@DTGoteraKHOU) May 8, 2017





If the Internet is looking for its newest heroes in shining reserves Montrezl Harrell and Sam Dekker, it may have to wait:

Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said backup center Montrezl Harrell and backup forward Sam Dekker could play if needed, but that would be based on how the game develops, rather than the rotation he plans for Game 5. If neither plays, that would leave the Rockets with a seven-man rotation.

“The biggest thing, if Clint would get in (foul) trouble, or you get quick fouls on somebody, you don’t really have (off the bench) what we want to get to,” D’Antoni said of the decision to bring Anderson off the bench.

That’s a quick way of saying that Mike D’Antoni needs shooters, he needs spacers, and he was born to coach Ryan Anderson. At whatever position. Harrell has only played in garbage time during this series, of which there has been plenty (18 minutes total for Harrell, five points and five rebounds with seven fouls), while Dekker saw some action immediately spelling Nene after his departure in Game 4.

“That could happen,” D’Antoni said of Dekker playing in the role he had on Sunday. “It could be somebody gets tired. He’s available and ready to go, if we need him for some minutes or foul trouble. It’s not automatic.

“(Harrell) is ready. One of those two, depending on what we need, they’re ready to go. Right now, we’ll just have to read the game.”

It’s going to be the 28-year-old Gordon, coming off a 22-point Game 4, who will have to push the Rockets over the top on the road. Game 5 will stand as the 16th start of the season for the veteran, now working on his third team, a departure for a player who started 398 of his previous 417 career regular-season games prior to joining the Rockets as a free agent last summer.

Gordon started the first six games of the season for his new team, averaging 16.2 points during the run, but following a 3-11 shooting night in a loss to Atlanta (which dropped the Rockets), D’Antoni made a move to shake Gordon’s foundation.

In an essay for the Players’ Tribune, Gordon explained D’Antoni’s approach in sending the veteran to the bench:

“Coach D’Antoni’s not gonna play games with you. He’ll give it to you straight.

“So when he told me in November that he was taking me out of the starting lineup, all he said was, “I’m moving you to the bench.”

“Bam. No leading into the conversation. No softening the blow. Just like that, I’d lost my starting spot. We were 11 games into the season.”

In three initial attempts with Gordon on the bench, the Rockets beat both the Spurs and Wizards prior to losing to San Antonio in a regular-season rematch, with Gordon averaging 17.7 points in about 31 minutes per game (just about what he’d played as a starter), making 19-40 shots. After one more try as a starter, though, Gordon was moved to the pine for good following a 5-20 showing against OKC during that 11th game.

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