Hard to find any positives from last night but the ball movement here was pretty nice. Love how Covington keeps sliding until he finds an open space on the opposite wing. #Rockets

Shotcharts from just Booker, Oubre and Ayton last night. Those three got almost any shot they wanted and combined to go 29/45 with an eFG of 76.7%. #Rockets

We've all seen Covington's block on AD, but here's his other block last night. Good positioning again, quick reaction to Bradley's shot attempt, and a perfectly-timed jump to meet McGee in the air. Awareness and defensive instincts are qualities that can't be taught. #Rockets

In terms of off-ball defense, this is about as good as it gets. Positioning and awareness. Watch how Covington pinches down as Caruso cuts through, immediately jumps back in the passing lane to LeBron, then inches his way into the paint to challenge the AD fadeaway. #Rockets.

Great point here. #Rockets small-ball forced the Lakers to get away from the plan that's been working for them.

Really impressed with Covington. First game, tough environment, makes 4 of his 7 threes (57%) and adds 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 30 mins. Credit to D'Antoni as well for getting RoCo involved with some easy reads like this one as the Lakers overplay Harden. #Rockets

Good example (from just a few weeks ago) of Covington defending a big in the post. Shows good footwork and quick hands. He'll be asked to do more of this with the #Rockets.

This is the ripple effect of Harden's elite scoring. Charlotte was so desperate to get the ball out of his hands that they brought the double all the way into the backcourt. Harden recognized it quickly, made the easy pass, and the #Rockets got an uncontested, game-tying three.

So they recognize they need a C to compete in the playoffs, but they don't want a good one?.

In the last 3 games, the #Rockets have forced 19.0 turnovers/game and only given up 6.3/game. Ball handling and athleticism with the small lineup has paid dividends.

📝NEW POST - Should the #Rockets go all-in on small-ball?.

Harden hit 7 step-back threes in the game, then closes it out with this. Impossible to defend. #Rockets

Pelicans have a 59.8 eFG% as a team and are +20 on the glass. and the #Rockets lead by 5. HOU did force 14 turnovers though.

Not sure how the #Rockets can stay with the small-ball approach when they're being outrebounded 29-12. Time for some size.

Nice recognition by Russ here. Instinctively understands where House will be for the kick-out. via @nbastats.

Really insightful breakdown here, especially on the bench players who may have an impact.

In each of the last 3 seasons, Russ and Harden have both finished in the Top 3 in Drives Per Game. If they continue to attack the paint, the pace won’t matter. #Rockets will get a lot of easy buckets either at the rim or from kick-outs.

#Rockets shotchart already in mid-season form

Doesn’t matter who the opponent is, we’re T-minus 2 hours until #Rockets basketball is back.

So the L2M report basically provides pretty clear evidence that the refs missed several calls which cost the #Rockets the game (including Curry picking up his 6th foul), and yet the headline on reads like this.