Heading into the season, the Rockets were viewed as one of the deepest teams in the league.<\/p>\n
Despite the preseason hype, injuries have decimated Houston’s depth, with Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams lost to season-ending injuries early on. Those injuries have turned what was supposed to be one of the Rockets’ biggest strengths into a weakness, limiting the impact of Houston’s bench.<\/p>\n
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Heading into the season’s home stretch, the Rockets average the fewest bench points per game in the entire NBA.<\/p>\n
The NBA’s worst bench production<\/p>\n
This season, Houston is averaging just 28 bench points per game. Except for the Lakers, who average the second-fewest bench points with 28.3, the Rockets are in a world of their own when it comes to how lacking their bench production has been.<\/p>\n
While injuries have played a major part in that lack of production, the bench players Houston does have available have disappointed. Dorian Finney-Smith, who was expected to be a major part of the rotation for the Rockets this season, is averaging just 3.1 points per game on 31.7% shooting from the field.<\/p>\n
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In an extended role with Adams out, Clint Capela has also struggled, averaging 3.8 points per game on his worst shooting splits since his rookie season. Even Josh Okogie, who was a bright spot early on and has played in 68 games, has had trouble scoring lately. Since the calendar flipped to February, he’s only scored 10+ points twice while shooting 40.7% from the field.<\/p>\n
With the importance of depth in today’s NBA, it’s understandable that Houston has struggled so badly in the clutch this season, given how much it’s relied on its starters to get there. The return of VanVleet and Adams, and any moves the Rockets make this offseason, should help alleviate some of those problems.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Houston’s bench production is still a major issue, one that could hurt the Rockets once the playoffs roll around.<\/p>\n