On defense, though, Terry will be hard-pressed to bring the kind of impact that has earned Beverley a starting job over the past season and a half. Beverley has developed a reputation for hounding the opponent’s ballhandler, making life as difficult as possible over the course of the game. Beverley’s one of those guys that gets to opponents, sometimes causing them to become emotional and lose focus.
“When you look at what Patrick does on the defensive end, he’s the guy that’s the head of the snake in terms of their defense; Dwight Howard’s the back line guy. And if the Rockets are going to advance in the playoffs ... [they’re going to face a point guard like Westbrook or Parker],” former coach and current basketball analyst Avery Johnson said on ESPN.
“The key to all of those teams is slowing down their point guards--that’s what Patrick Beverley can do, and he’s a much improved his three-point shooter.”
Johnson’s exact defensive impact is hard to measure because the advanced statistics haven’t progressed nearly as much on that side of the ball as on offense. And in terms of simple net rating or even defensive rating--the number of points allowed per 100 possessions--Beverley doesn’t rank as high as Terry. But Beverley has been playing more minutes overall, and more minutes against better players, while Terry often competes against backups.
The other big factor? Terry’s move into the starting lineup puts more pressure on his backup, Pablo Prigioni. Terry has only averaged 21 minutes this season, a number he'll likely see increase in these final two weeks of the regular season and the playoffs. Prigioni, also 37 years old, has only averaged 14 minutes since he was acquired from the Knicks in February. And he’s definitely a worse defender than Beverley, and not quite as potent on offense as Terry.
The Rockets still have a shot at winning the championship, especially if the rest of the players who have been injured--Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, Kostas Papanikolaou, and Donatas Motiejunas--can get healthy in these last games before the playoffs. Without one of their best defenders, though, everyone else will have to step up to make sure opposing point guards don’t explode for big games.
