Rockets' Lawson 'good' with coming off bench

When the Houston Rockets acquired point guard Ty Lawson in the offseason, there were immediate questions as to how he would co-exist in the backcourt with James Harden.

It has become an issue.

There are any number of reasons why the Rockets started the season a disappointing 5-7, which led to the firing of head coach Kevin McHale, but pairing Harden and Lawson hasn't worked out. And Wednesday's first victory of the J.B. Bickerstaff era featured Harden scoring 26 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, while Lawson mostly rode the pine.

In other words, offensively, these were more like last year's Rockets, with the ball in Harden's hands. Bickerstaff admitted as much after the win, saying the decision to move Lawson to the second unit is partly "to get Ty on the floor more without James so the ball can be in his hands to make plays."

Lawson appears to be fine with it:

There's definite logic to bringing Lawson off the bench, even if Wednesday's results weren't good - he shot 1-of-8 with two points and one assist in 20 minutes.

Lawson isn't himself playing off the ball, and having a playmaker when Harden sits is a good idea. Veteran Jason Terry started Wednesday, but that could change when Patrick Beverley returns from an ankle injury.