PHOTOGRAPH BY
GREG NELSONBY ROB MAHONEY
ORIENTATION IS UNDERWAY deep within the Toyota
Center, where a team of oversized basketball players are
enveloped by their even more oversized chairs. Rockets as-
sistant Brett Gunning has the floor. On the video wall of the
home-theater-style film room, he walks the team through the
guiding philosophies of Rockets basketball—a refresher for
some, a revelation to others. Houston, which led the league
in three-point attempts by a mile last season, doesn’t want
its players indiscriminately chucking threes. It wants them
hunting open ones. Inside the arc, it’s not enough to get
into the paint for a shot. Gunning makes a data-driven caseUNFINISHED BUSINESS
Westbrook and Harden
(center) spent three
seasons together in OKC,
culminating in a run to the
2012 Finals—still the only
appearance for either player.