Two shooters with a tower! The Rockets streamlined their rotation, and the bench faced a change of formation: the 31-year-old center missed the opportunity to appear.

Today the Rockets defeated the Magic. You know, the Magic had a record of 7 wins and 6 losses before, and they had won three consecutive games before this game with the Rockets. Although the core of this team, Banqueiro, is unable to play due to injury, their style of play is simple and clear, the rhythm is very fast, and they often use quick offense and defense transitions to defeat their opponents. Facing such an opponent, the Rockets naturally have to make adjustments to their lineup.

In this game, the Rockets coincided with forward Ethan having to miss 4 to 6 weeks due to an abdominal muscle strain. In addition, veteran VanVleet was retired for the season and Finney Smith's return was far away. Injury issues put the team's lineup facing a lot of challenges. In view of this, head coach Uduka ingeniously streamlined the rotation lineup - usually, the Rockets will only reduce the regular 9-man rotation to an 8-man rotation when facing a strong opponent. Uduka adopted this strategy in this game.

In the starting lineup, the Rockets continued the winning configuration from the previous game without any adjustments: Amen Thompson served as the main point guard, Okogie served as the main shooting guard, the starting forward was partnered by Durant and Smith Jr., and the center position was still occupied by Shen Jing. The changes are mainly reflected in the second lineup. The 31-year-old inside center Capela missed the opportunity to appear in this game.

Although Capela has excellent defensive ability and acceptable pie-eating ability, he is now a "useless" player in the Rockets. Since there is already Adams at the same position who has better rim protection ability, Capela's status in the team has obviously declined, and he will never regain his glory as the Rockets' starting center five years ago. In this game, in response to the Magic's fast offensive and defensive style, the Rockets directly hid Capela. This was the first time in 12 games this season that the 31-year-old center missed the opportunity to play without injury.

The Rockets' second lineup adjustment ideas are clear: after Ethan's absence, the team directly sent 29-year-old guard Aaron Holiday onto the court. In the past few seasons since Holiday joined the Rockets, his three-point shooting percentage has remained above 38%. Last season, it was close to 40%, making him the team's top shooter from the outside. Although he once faded out of the rotation this season, he has been in hot form on the outside in the last two games. He contributed a total of 20 points to the Rockets in 32 minutes and scored 3 three-pointers. His skills have not deteriorated due to absence.

In this game, Holiday and Shepard formed the Rockets' double shooters in the backcourt, and paired with 32-year-old center Adams, the bench lineup ushered in a new change. Obviously, the Rockets intend to speed up the offensive and defensive rhythm of the second team through such adjustments - Holiday and Shepard are fast and have both shooting and ball-handling abilities. Although Adams in the inside only scored 3 points, he grabbed 13 rebounds, and his ability to protect the basket inside is unmatched.

The effect of this proactive change is significant: the streamlined rotation speeds up the team's offensive and defensive rhythm. The combination of two shooters opens up ample space for Adams in the interior, and can also provide support for Durant and Shen Jing. Once the two core players are double-teamed by their opponents, the Rockets' outside shooters will be able to get easy shooting opportunities.

However, it is still unknown whether Capela will reappear in the next game against the Cavaliers with the "twin towers" of Jarrett Allen and Mobley. Considering the Cavaliers' inside advantage, the Rockets may need to bring Capela back to the game in addition to Adams and Shen Jing to enhance their inside confrontation capabilities.