When the Houston Rockets needed scoring late on Saturday night, they called on their backup power forward, a 2m banger who is known mostly for embedding his incisors in Dirk Nowitzki’s forearm.
Carl Landry lost or cracked five teeth when he collided with Nowitzki on Dec. 18. Because of some deft dentistry, he is still smiling and still charging through the lane — the unlikely face of an unlikely Western Conference power.
Then again, Houston is a team with no face at all.
The Rockets were 18-12 after beating the Nets on Saturday, holding steady as the sixth-best team in the Western Conference. They are thriving despite the absence of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.
They are thriving despite a roster of castoffs and no-names and players like Landry, a former second-round pick who is, improbably, their new go-to scorer.
There is not a single All-Star in the Rockets’ regular rotation, or even anyone who could be one in the near future. They had seven players averaging from eight to 17 points, but not one who has ever averaged 20.
“We have a collection of guys who have been told they’re too ‘something’ to play in the NBA,” forward Shane Battier said. “Too small, too short, too dumb, can’t shoot, unathletic.”
COLLECTIVE DESIRE
A collective desire “to prove everybody wrong,” Battier said, is the Rockets’ rallying cry and their identity. “So when you face a little adversity, like missing two All-Stars, it doesn’t bother you as much as it would other teams.”
It is tough to identify anything, in fact, that does bother the Rockets. The day he returned from busting up his bridgework in a victory against Dallas, Landry scored 27 points to help beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
Landry finished with 26 points against the Nets — his 14th 20-point game this season. He had reached the mark only four times in his first two years in the league. Landry says he is still getting used to the responsibility and the attention. He turned the ball over twice after the Nets started sending extra defenders at him in the post.
“It’s something that I’ve never been pretty much my whole career, since college,” Landry said.
Landry is gaining attention as a sixth man of the year candidate. But he still talks with the humility of a late draft pick, emphasizing a need to “better my basketball IQ” and play with more maturity.
“My role is to come off the bench and just bring energy,” he said. “It’s not my goal or my role to score.”
SCORING BURDEN
None of the Rockets, in fact, would claim that role, which is a rare phenomenon in the star-driven NBA. The scoring burden shifts nightly from Landry to Aaron Brooks to Luis Scola to Trevor Ariza.
To appreciate the Rockets’ seamless teamwork, one need only look at their opponents on Saturday. The Nets have an All-Star point guard (Devin Harris), a budding star center (Brook Lopez) and ample talent, but have lost 28 of 30 games.
They are less than the sum of their parts, the inverse of the Rockets.
This is also why the Rockets face a quandary over McGrady, who is trying to come back from knee surgery. He played sparingly for two weeks before Adelman decided to bench him over the weekend.
Underlying the debate is the concern that McGrady is accustomed to dominating the offense, which would surely disrupt the Rockets’ egalitarian vibe.
As much as the Rockets are enjoying the no-stars, no-egos, no-drama approach, it can take them only so far.
“I think you need elite players to win the title in this league,” General Manager Daryl Morey said. “That said, every time we’ve thought, hey we might need to do something, the team keeps proving more and more. So we’re enjoying the ride.”
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