Houston Rockets: 5 Keys To Winning The West

The Houston Rockets had an outstanding 2014-15 season in which they finished an improbable second in the stacked Western Conference, and pulled off an even more unlikely comeback in the conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers led 3-1 at one point in that series, and led by 19 late in the third quarter of Game 5, but couldn’t hold off a furious Rocket rally to come back and eventually force a Game 7 in Houston. The Rockets’ momentum was just too much for the Clippers, and Houston took the series in seven games.

Several Clippers, including head coach Doc Rivers, have indicated that perhaps the rally was largely because they didn’t take the Rockets seriously. Be that as it may, Houston went on to face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals before ultimately being overwhelmed by what is considered by many to be one of the greatest teams of all time.

The Rockets didn’t stand pat in the offseason or bask in the glow of a surprisingly successful year, they went out and addressed a glaring issue in the form of an offensive-minded point guard.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey pounced when the Denver Nuggets put point guard Ty Lawson on the trade block and scooped him up for an affordable price, parting with Nick Johnson, Pablo Prigioni, Kostas Papanikolaou, Joey Dorsey and a 2017 second-round pick in exchange for the embattled star. Houston aims to skyrocket above their impressive finish last year, and there are five keys in particular that they need to emphasize in order to accomplish that goal.

Next: No. 5