Mike D'Antoni Talks Rockets' Recent Struggles, Resting Players Ahead of Playoffs

Although the Houston Rockets have the top seed in the Western Conference locked up, head coach Mike D'Antoni isn't going to bench his players for the sake of keeping them rested for the playoffs.

Speaking Sunday after Houston's 100-83 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center, D'Antoni said he's worried disrupting the team's current rotations and game plan could prove counterproductive, per ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon:

"That's why at the end of the year, you've got to be careful taking guys out and just resting them. Everybody wants rest, rest, rest. Well, they've got to play. Otherwise, we're going to lose the advantage of what you worked for for 80 games, and it's scary times for us. You've got to play. You've got to bring it, and you've got to bring it every day. We'll get it back."

Both James Harden and Trevor Ariza echoed D'Antoni's sentiments after Sunday's defeat snapped an 11-game winning streak.

Harden said the Rockets "coasted these last few games," while Ariza added Houston "definitely [doesn't] want to go into the playoffs playing the way that we've been playing these past few games."

Because of their success this year, the Rockets haven't had to lean too heavily on their starters, which likely gives D'Antoni some assurances about maintaining the status quo ahead of the playoffs.

Although Harden was averaging 35.5 minutes per game entering Sunday, that number was on pace to be his lowest since 2011-12. Chris Paul, who has been limited by injuries at various times this year, is averaging the second-fewest minutes (31.9) of his career.

Depth had been a problem for the Rockets in recent years, but Houston addressed that issue by signing PJ Tucker in the offseason and picking up Gerald Green and Joe Johnson in the middle of the year. The fact that the Rockets can count on Clint Capela more also takes some of the burden off Harden and Paul.

Health is obviously critical to the Rockets' title chances, but there's little reason for D'Antoni to be overly concerned about his players' workload with five games left in the regular season.