Dave Hardisty

And so all of these guys shoot more threes.

And so to me, in the grand scheme, that's how the Rockets are going to have to try and overcome this.

And there's going to be some games where it looks bad because if the threes aren't going and you don't have the presence of Steven Adams, it's going to hurt.

But on the flip side, when the threes go in, as they did in the second half tonight, it's

you can be really, really good.

Is it going to be enough for you to be the two seed in the West?

I don't know.

I'm skeptical.

I do think that the absence of Steven will be felt, but I think that's the way you should be looking at this.

Clint Capella is still a valuable piece, but he's a valuable piece to soak up minutes in terms of actually replacing the upside of Steven Adams.

It's about Jabari.

It's about Reed.

It's about your shooters.

Tonight it paid off.

I don't know how frequently it's going to, but I guess coming off two weeks where they were like the worst shooting team in NBA history, they were due for one of these, right?

Although maybe, and this is admittedly me searching for a silver lining, you have no choice, at least with the way the team is currently constructed.

Now, maybe something changes by the trade deadline, but the way they're currently constructed, I don't think you have much choice but to give more reps, more shot attempts to the younger guys, the developmental guys.

Like, you have no choice in a game like tonight but to let Reid and Jabari sink or swim.

And tonight, boy, did they ever swim.

And so, over the next couple of months...