The Rockets adjust their rotation! The 9-man rotation becomes 10-man, 2 veterans are reused, and the 27-year-old shooter gives way?

Generally speaking, if a team is always in winning mode, they will never adjust their starting lineup. This is especially obvious in the playoffs. Generally, the losing team will take the initiative to change their formation and use different tactics and different lineups to deal with it, which often has the effect of surprising victory. If the team that won the previous game suddenly changes their starting lineup, their winning advantage may no longer exist. Therefore, in the playoffs, winning teams rarely adjust their starting lineup unless there are injuries.

The current Rockets are doing the opposite. In the previous game, the Rockets narrowly defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers can be said to be one of the strongest teams the Rockets have faced this season. They are now second in the Eastern Conference, and the gap with the Pistons is not big. With a little effort, they can overtake the Pistons and become first in the Eastern Conference. In this game, in order to deal with the Cavaliers' fearsome twin towers - Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, Rockets coach Udoka took the initiative to adjust the starting lineup, letting Shen Jing and Adams serve as the interior twin towers, Smith Jr. changed to small forward, Durant returned to the shooting guard position, and Amen Thompson remained as the team's main point guard.

Okogie, a 27-year-old basic salary defender who has always performed very well before, was moved to the substitute lineup for this game. What's even more troublesome is that Okogie's playing time is getting less and less now. In the previous game against the Magic, Okogie was the least impressive among the Rockets' starting lineup. He played the least time and did not score a point in the entire game. In the game against the Cavaliers, Okogie not only became a substitute, but he only played 8 minutes.

In these short 8 minutes, Okogie made 0 of 2 shots and only recorded 1 rebound in the game. It can only be said that Okogie is more like a full-time defender on the court now, and no longer looks like the three-point shooter he used to be. In 13 games this season, Okogie averaged 7.4 points, 1.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game, and his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 44.4%.

Okogie changed from starter to substitute, but the Rockets' main rotation lineup added a player. The Rockets' starting lineup has become a "big five" lineup, and among the second lineup, in addition to Okogie, Holiday and Sheppard also got enough playing time. Capela, the center, returned to the rotation in this game and performed well, especially in the middle of the fourth quarter, when he received a pass from Shepard and completed an alley-oop, adding two important points for the Rockets.

In addition, 30-year-old veteran forward Tate also got 2 minutes of playing time in this game. Although he did not perform well, the Rockets' rotation obviously has another option - that is to say , the Rockets' previous 9-man rotation became a 10-man rotation in this game against the Cavaliers, and veterans Holiday and Adams were also reused. One became the Rockets' rescuer, and the other became the Rockets' new starting center.

Okogie, the 27-year-old minimum-salary shooter, obviously gave up his starting position to Adams and returned to the bench. Moreover, in the bench lineup, his performance did not have much presence-because in this game, his limelight has been completely stolen by Aaron Holiday. In this game, Holiday contributed 18 points in 19 minutes of playing time, including 14 points in the fourth quarter, becoming the key to the Rockets' victory.

This is the Rockets' adjustment to the rotation lineup in this game. We don’t know how the Rockets’ rotation will change in the next game against the Nuggets, but we also believe that Udoka will use the most suitable lineup to face the powerful Nuggets.