Ben DuBose

And on that side, I think it's looked better in recent games.

They haven't had the lapses against bad opponents that they did in December.

And I thought tonight specifically, that's something that the Rockets can hang their hat on.

They seem to really respond.

This team needed a win and it started with defense.

And really from the outset, this is one of the better efforts in a while.

Yeah, let's talk about Clint because I don't think he played in the second half against the Spurs.

Is that right?

If he did, it was like token minute.

And so I think this is something that with Stephen Adams out for the year, which has a few implications, and we'll talk about that in a few minutes when we talk about the trade deadline implications.

Trade deadline is one week from today.

But Clint tonight, 10.7 boards, two assists, two blocks in 18 minutes.

Rockets plus 17.

They were plus 17 with Capella, plus five with Shingun.

That's not me throwing shade at Shingun.

I acknowledge he was definitely playing hurt tonight, but it does show that Capella lifted them in his minutes.

And yet it feels like even when Steven hasn't played this year, Capella has largely played token minutes.

He's been the backup center in the first half, but if Steven isn't available in the second half either, well, typically they'll do a combination of extended Shingun minutes and small ball Jabari at the five.

And what I'm wondering after tonight, is this a point where the Rockets should give Clint Capella a longer runway?

I did some checking in today and folks inside the building will tell you like Clint has much more gas in the tank than people on the outside thought going into this year.