The Houston Rockets are off to a fantastic start to the 2014-15 NBA season.
The Rockets are a league-best 6-0. But Houston isn’t merely beating teams, they’re dominating them.
Houston has a plus-14.7 point-differential (second best in the league to the Golden State Warriors) and have yet to win a game by less than double digits.
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In terms of efficiency, the Rockets have been off the charts. Houston is scoring the fourth most points per possession and allowing the third-fewest points per possession, according to Basketball Reference. This is a team that’s simply obliterating teams on both sides of the ball.
After they lost Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik this summer, the Rockets were a popular pick entering the season to take a step back in the Western Conference.
Now, after this remarkable start, some are starting to call this team a true championship contender.
However, let’s pump the breaks on viewing James Harden‘s and Dwight Howard‘s Rockets as a part of the NBA’s upper echelon.
Houston’s start has undoubtedly been impressive, but perhaps not as much as the numbers and their record would suggest.
Take a look at who the Rockets have beaten: the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers are winless and rank last in point-differential (minus-14.8). The Jazz, though they hold an impressive win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, are 2-3 and one of the bottom-feeders in the West. The Celtics are 1-3 and poised to again finish toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
The 76ers are 0-5 and might be the only NBA team worse than the Lakers. The Spurs were without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter and Marco Belinelli when they played Houston.
Now, the Rockets did beat a respectable team in the Heat by 17 points and they deserve credit for that. But the Heat are far from world-beaters and that still gives Houston just one win over a quality team in six games.
It’s difficult to truly get a gage on just how good this team is given their opponents. Sure, it didn’t look as if their diminished depth was an issue when they were facing the 76ers and Lakers. But that doesn’t mean they won’t miss, say, Asik’s presence when they’re battling Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies.
It’s not the Rockets’ fault that they’ve had such a weak schedule. And they’ve done what a good team should do in their spot and dismantled their inferior opponents. Houston is clearly among the better teams in the West.
But it’s premature to suggest that this start should vault the Rockets into a class with the handful of teams that truly have a shot at an NBA championship.
Let’s give these Rockets some more time. Let’s see what they can do against the NBA’s top teams before considering them threats for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Houston will get its first true test of the season on Saturday at home against the Warriors (+15.8 point-differential). There’s no doubt the Rockets can take a giant step in their quest to become a Western Conference powerhouse with a win against Stephen Curry and Co.