In the half court, D'Antoni would be wise to not try and fix what isn't broken. Harden's deliberate isolation's, with shooters stationed on the perimeter and an elite rim runner in Clint Capela or the newly acquired veteran Tyson Chandler is working so why risk letting Westbooks more frenetic pace throw off that cadence?

The solution might lie in a more general stylistic change to make use of that patented Westbrook baseline-to-baseline energy.

The Rockets have walked the ball up the court in the last few seasons, ranking near the bottom off the league in pace and fast break points. Westbrook can provide variety – imagine him snaring a defensive rebound, taking off up the floor at speed, getting to the bucket and throwing it down violently.

Or hitting a cutting Gordon for the dunk. Perhaps finding Tucker in the corner for the kick out? Harden trailing the play for the three? If there is no quick bucket available, let Harden work his half court magic. In Westbrook, Houston have a real weapon in the open floor that they have lacked in the past few seasons.

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In the post season, half court points are harder to come by as defences can scout more effectively, games slow down and officials swallow their whistles. That may go someway to explaining Houston's playoff failures in the Harden era.

Should Westbrook be good for a single fast break basket per quarter, that eight points will make the difference in many a playoff match up.

But is the expected offensive improvement enough for the Rockets to win a title? Not by itself. Their championship aspirations probably depend on their defense, where the team had two very distinct periods last season – bottom five without assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik, and 17th by seasons end with Bzdelik back on board after the All-Star break.

Coach Buzz is on the Pelicans staff, now. Does that mean the Rockets crater at that end again?

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Chandler is a former Defensive Player of the Year, but at age 37 how much does he have left? Harden is a better defender than his reputation suggests, as is Westbrook. However both are prone to costly lapses away from the ball.

The Rockets best lineup may be Harden-Westbrook-Gordon-Tucker-Capela. That group will bring the thunder (excuse the pun) on offense, but defensively are very suspect. Gordon is good, but not a stopper by any means.

Tucker is built like a small truck, but is short for a power forward and also getting longer in the tooth. Capela is lithe and athletic but can get pushed around by stronger bigs. Chandler aside, nobody on the Rockets bench inspires fear in the opposition offense.

The Rockets should get even better on one end of the court – that much is clear. But can they stop the other high end talent in the West? LeBron and Anthony Davis; Kawhi Leonard and Paul George; Curry and Draymond Green; Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic; Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert – all of these pairs have more defensive acumen than the Rockets leaders.

In a loaded Western Conference, the margins are fine. Houston have gotten better, but it's unclear as to whether they've gotten good enough.