Clint Capela’s versatility is the key to the Rockets’ much-improved defense

Clint Capela was ubiquitous. In Game 4 against the Utah JAzz on Sunday, he played larger than life on defense, turning the rim into a cemetery for missed layups, and then shifted out to the perimeter to snuff out the short dudes who assumed they could dribble right around him. After a stop, Capela would sprint down the other end of the court, his long strides threatening to expose Utah’s transition defense if it took a laissez faire approach. During one timeout in the second half, head coach Mike D’Antoni was prepared to pull him out for a brief rest.

“The timeout’s good enough,” Capela told D’Antoni, and the coach made the no-brainer decision to keep him in.

The Houston Rockets now lead the Utah Jazz 3-1, making up for a home loss by taking two on the road in relatively dominant fashion. They’ve outscored the Jazz by 40 points in these four games, and they’re clearly the better team, despite Utah making them work for it. It’s no real surprise — the Rockets didn’t win 65 games this regular season by accident.

The biggest change following Game 2’s loss has been Houston’s defense, and it starts with Capela. The 6’10 Swiss big man is comfortable guarding anywhere on the floor, but is deadliest under the rim, where he recorded six blocks on Sunday. In a matchup against Rudy Gobert, the player who will likely win Defensive Player of the Year, Capela clearly dominated him. Beyond the blocks, Capela finished with 12 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Houston finished with the league’s sixth-best defense this regular season, allowing just 103.8 points per 100 possessions, about two points per 100 possessions shy of the league’s top team. It was strange to watch them play Game 2, where they constantly blew switches and left Joe Ingles open behind the arc, because everyone knew they could be better than that — from Capela on down. With Ricky Rubio missing, Utah only has one playmaker on their entire roster. Though Donovan Mitchell heated up in the second quarter in Game 4, his 25 points on 24 shot attempts still wasn’t good enough.

This switching defense has taken the Rockets this far, and it’s a pain to play against. Switching everything mitigates the pick-and-roll and forces teams into playing isolation. Houston showed the league how to isolate efficiently this year, spacing the entire floor and letting two of the league’s best isolation players cook. The Rockets are too good at their own game to be beat by it, and so they just laugh maniacally when other teams try to duplicate their isolation success against them. No team can do it like Houston.

Having a center like Capela who feels comfortable and is effective guarding the perimeter makes the system work. Gobert is an elite center who might win Defensive Player of the Year, but we saw his limitations in this round, where he struggled guarding anyone beyond the paint. Great playoff teams take advantage of that, and Gobert’s decent stats this round underlie how often Houston exposed him.

If the Rockets close out this series as expected, then a much tougher test awaits against Golden State. The Warriors are better at running traditional centers off the floor than anyone, and getting effective minutes from Capela when Draymond Green is matching him at center feels imperative if the Rockets want to have a chance to win.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Capela was sensational on Sunday, and we should continue to appreciate him as such. He unlocks so much of the success that Golden State has, and at 23, he still has a long time left to dominate the paint (and this league).