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#3 Houston Rockets
Chris Paul, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, PJ Tucker, and Clint Capela.
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The loss of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute will definitely be felt this season. Defense definitely wins championships, but if somebody can make switching gears work, it would be head coach Mike D’Antoni.
If Carmelo Anthony embraces the inner defender in him, this wouldn’t be a problem at all. Considering the strengths of three out of the five players on the lineup, putting your foot on the gas when it comes to the offense sounds like a better idea than trying to develop something that is not innate in someone, which is defending.
The good thing is, Basketball is a team sport and this Rockets unit may lack the brilliant single defensive coverage it once had, defending as a team will now be its defensive mantra.
On the offensive end, the reigning MVP, the 'Point God', and Melo can easily put up buckets. Tucker’s physical three-and-D acumen paired with Capela’s athletic rim running will always be valued in cases of defenses collapsing on the three scorers.
If Melo accepts third-fiddle duties and develops a consistent catch-and-shoot stroke, I cannot see how this lineup can’t work out against the best in the business.
