The biggest change in the Rockets in the last 2 games is naturally that the two interior players have been given a lot of playing opportunities. Against the Lone Rangers, Rockets' No. 3 center Fernando came off the bench with Wood sidelines and had 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. In the game against the Pelicans, Fernando did not play much time, but Silas sent Garruba, a big forward who had been absent for nearly two months.
As you know, Garuba has just returned from injury, and he just participated in his first training session after the injury before playing against the Pelicans. In the game against the Pelicans, the Rockets did not lack inside players, Wood returned, Shin Kyung also came off the bench, and even Fernando only got 2 minutes of playing time. All of this shows that the Rockets don't need to send Garupa to fight right away.
But the Rockets still urgently called Garupa to play and gave him 7 minutes of playing time, Garuba's performance was also OK, hitting a three-pointer in 7 minutes, and getting 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. In fact, if under normal circumstances, a player who has been absent for two months and has suffered a serious wrist injury must not be used immediately, at least garouba must have a transition period of at least 1-2 weeks from injury to game state.
Moreover, the Rockets have no requirements for the record, and there is no need to let him play in Garruba just after his return. Or, the Rockets could have sent Garupa to the Development League Vipers, after all, there are fewer confrontations here, which is more helpful for Garruba to recover from his form — rather than immediately throwing Garruba into the regular season, in case of repeated injuries can be more than worth the loss.
But the Rockets also appear to have their own "new plans." Look at the recent ways the Rockets have used people, Schroder has stopped and stopped, Gordon is often suspended, even if there is no back-to-back game, the Rockets always find all kinds of reasons to take a break from Gordon.
In addition to Schroeder and Gordon, Tate and Wood have often been absent in recent games, although there are injuries, but the purpose of the Rockets is very clear, let more main and main rotation players take a break, and free up the position and playing time for the substitute players, so that Silas can examine the ability of these substitute players in the last 14 regular season games.
As we all know, the Rockets' roster will always be greatly adjusted during the offseason every year, which has become the norm in recent seasons. The Rockets' current team framework composed of young players such as Green, Shinkin, Porter Jr., Tate, Christopher, martin Jr., etc., has basically taken shape, so how to match this core lineup with some high-quality role players? That's what the Rockets did in their final 14 games — to give the bench more playing time so that the coaching staff could fully investigate and ultimately decide who could stay and reuse in the offseason.
This is probably why the Bench players, and even the bench fringe players, have been so active in the Rockets' recent games. Even in order to further examine Garupa's ability and condition, the Rockets did not hesitate to let Garupa, who had just returned, play in the regular season. The Rockets' actions also illustrate that the team will fully observe Garupa in the last 14 games and make a final judgment to see if the 20-year-old can become a part of the Rockets' rebuilding blueprint.