How the Rockets built a defense that’s good enough to win an NBA championship

The Houston Rockets are riding a 17-game winning streak, and at the rate they’re going, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a team capable of slowing them down. That’s because the Rockets don’t just have one of the most unstoppable offenses known to man.

They also have a stunningly efficient defense that has surprised opponents and fans alike as Houston embarks on one of the wildest seasons in its history.

Teams coached by Mike D’Antoni are usually known for two things: explosive offenses and lax defenses. But this year, something has changed.

Houston ranks ninth in defensive efficiency, allowing 104.5 points per 100 possessions. The league’s best defensive team, the Boston Celtics, owns a defensive rating of 101.3. Since the Rockets’ 16-game winning streak began on Jan. 27, they’ve owned the NBA’s fourth-best defensive rating allowing just 103.2 points per 100 possessions. Only Utah, Toronto and Portland have been better than Houston on defense during their winning streak.

So what’s changed?

You usually don’t hear that position unless you’re talking football, but D’Antoni ceded all control of the Rockets defense to Jeff Bzdelik, who the team hired as lead assistant coach two summers ago.

Bzdelik, a former head coach for the Nuggets and at the college level, challenged James Harden to play better individual defense. He asked Clint Capela a simple question: Why can’t you be Defensive Player of the Year?

Houston ranked 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions the season before D’Antoni took over as head coach. He hired Bzdelik that same summer, and the Rockets improved three slots to 18th last season despite adding several offense-first players in free agency. It wasn’t a massive leap to the top, but it was a step in the right direction, and it showed on paper.

”I hadn’t really known him before,” D’Antoni said of Bzdelik in a Bleacher Report feature. “It’s been a natural fit, and we were lucky to get him. He’s unbelievably good with our defense.”

For Bzdelik and the Rockets, the change was simple. Defense couldn’t be the side dish. It had to be an entreé, just like shooting threes and getting layups. The team needed a shift in its philosophy. That started with convincing Harden to take that end of the ball seriously.

“Ask me if (Coach Bzdelik) talked to me about defense,” Harden said, according to Bleacher Report.

Bzdelik became the Rockets’ version of Ron Adams, the genius defensive guru who helped implement the Warriors’ forever-switching defense. But they couldn’t execute that defensive system without the right players.

The Rockets signed P.J. Tucker and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute last summer. Both are tough-nosed and capable individual defenders, as is Trevor Ariza. More importantly, the two additions at the forward slots give the Rockets a trio of perimeter defenders who can switch on screen-and-rolls.

The Rockets allow almost 10 fewer points per 100 possessions when Mbah a Moute is on the floor, according to data from NBA.com.

Tucker and Mbah a Moute, specifically, can defend point guards, centers, wings, and shooting power forwards.

That has enabled Houston to play a similar defense to that of Golden State, whose defensive versatility has invariably propelled the team to three straight NBA Finals appearances and two championship victories in that span.

“Obviously, half court we’ve been able to switch,” Mbah a Moute told Basketball Insiders. “That’s been good for us because we got a lot of guys of the same size who can guard different positions.”

Bzdelik has a more focused, maniacal take on how he deploys defensive switching:

“Switching can’t be a convenience,” Bzdelik told The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. “It has to be used as a weapon. It can be very effective because of the way the game is played. Our rules are, you switch to deny, you switch to force a turnover, and you switch to take away a 3.”

The Rockets aren’t just a one-trick pony anymore. They’ve put in the work and are reaping the benefits of putting added emphasis on the defensive end. Championships aren’t won simply by outshooting opponents. They’re also won by stopping them from scoring in the first place.

Bzdelik knew that. Now, with their versatile roster, the Rockets do, too.