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Houston Rockets: Should They Start ‘Tanking’?

By Mauricio Putz

Feb 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tanking is, by far, considered one of the most vicious acts in the NBA. But still, it is also the foundation through which a lot of teams have been able to acquire certain franchise-changing players via the NBA Draft.

That is not exactly the case here. The Houston Rockets are far from being in the lottery, and even further from getting the first pick, so getting a franchise-changing player through the Draft is definitely out of the question. Also, they have one already in James Harden.

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No, this is about “tanking” some games to try and lock a seed that’ll eventually lead to a better matchup for them come playoff time as they try to avoid a first-round “upset” like the one they had last season. After wednesday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Houston Rockets are in fourth place and 2.5 games behind the second-seed in the Western Conference.

And, if they know what’s good for them, they should try and keep it that way.

The overwhelming amount of talent populating the Western Conference will render playoff seeding almost irrelevant. Nevertheless, as irrelevant as they might be, a matchup against the wrong team in the first-round could eventually put a premature end to the Houston Rockets’ pursuit.

Of course, a lot of things can go wrong for a team during a season or the playoffs, however, it is the team’s job to try and put themselves in a position to succeed and advance further into the playoffs. The Houston Rockets have done a great job to put themselves in the aforementioned position.

But still, a first-round matchup against an ailing Oklahoma City Thunder or the uninspired San Antonio Spurs could put an end to anyone’s race to the title. Even the Rockets’.

And even though a first-round exit would be devastating for any team, it is even worse for the Rockets’. When you’ve got so much money invested in a big-man that has missed 28 games this season, so far. The window to win a championship is smaller than usual. In the Rockets’ case, it is closing. Fast.

Dwight Howard‘s player option in 2016-17 could put an end to their Harden-Howard tandem sooner than expected. And even though he’s missed 47 percent of the season and the Rockets have done quite well without him, there’s a way better chance for them to finish their pursuit with Howard on the court.

Oh…

*More on Dwight, here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been no strangers to injury this season. They’ve been without reigning-MVP Kevin Durant several times during the season, and as a result we’ve had to put up with MVP-hopeful Russell Westbrook obliterating every single team they go against.

One triple-double at a time.

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2 Houston Rockets international players that never played a single minute /

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    • Once Kevin Durant is back, the Thunder will be a tough team to beat, to say the least. They could even be one of most dangerous teams in the playoffs along the lines of the Golden State Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies.

    Also, as uninspired as the San Antonio Spurs have been, we know this is exactly what they do. They cruise through the regular season in order to keep their old bodies healthy, people write them off — as we most have for the past decade, then they destroy everyone in the playoffs with the best basketball performance out there.

    Same old, same old.

    Still, as good as those teams have been, it is unlikely that any of them will be able to climb up the standings higher than the 6th seed. As a result, even if the Rockets were to keep the fourth, and even fifth seed in the West, they’d still be looking at matchups against the Los Angeles Clippers or the Dallas Mavericks. Two struggling teams that’ll most likely have a very brief playoff stint.

    Of course, it’s never a good idea to lose games on purpose since that could lead to a certain kind of rust come playoff team. It is almost always the teams that get hot in the right time who make it further down the road.

    Next: James Harden Is Far From The New King James

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