Ever since their strong 20-7 start to the season, the Houston Rockets were considered one of the toughest teams out of the Western Conference. Nevertheless, in the last couple of weeks the Rockets have dropped four of eight and fallen to sixth place in the Western Conference.
For many around the league the 24-11 Houston Rockets have fallen from contenders to pretenders.
Now, it is only fair to say that the Rockets’ so-called struggles have come at the hands of some of the toughest teams in the league and fans should not let panic take over a rather successful season … yet.
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However, even though they’ve faced a rather complicated schedule for the past couple of weeks, there’s still doubt about how this team could and/or should eventually reach the top of the Western Conference.
With the NBA’s third-lowest opponents points per game (97.4) the Rockets’ success was based, as it should when you’ve got Dwight Howard on your team, on defense. For the first 27 games of the season, the Rockets opponents scored 100 or more points only nine times. Once every three games.
Still, throughout the last eight games — a stretch which coincidentally matches Josh Smith‘s acquisition — the Rockets have allowed five games of 100 points or more.
Every single one of those games, except for one against the Memphis Grizzlies, has resulted in a loss for them.
Even if it’s wrong, if I had to blame one thing for the Rockets’ sudden demise, I would blame the following:
OFFENSIVE INCONSISTENCIES
The Houston Rockets have arguably the smartest offense in the league. They have the fewest attempts from 10-16 feet range, 4 percent of their shots; and from more than 16 feet excluding three-pointers, 6 percent.
(More on that here.)
By being blown away with some of their offensive numbers we’ve totally looked past the fact that, as smart as they’ve been, the Rockets are dead last in two-point attempts per game with 49.5. And they’re shooting a peasant .491 percent in such attempts.
So what does this mean exactly? Well, even though they’ve picked their spots correctly on the court and kept away from low-percentage long-twos, the Rockets have failed to hit, consistently, their shots inside the paint.
Houston Rockets’ Shots In Restricted Area:
Houston Rockets’ Shots In Paint (Non-Restricted Area):
DEFENSIVE INCONSISTENCIES
As we’ve previously mentioned in this same piece, even though their opponents have been able to run the score on them at will, the Houston Rockets still have the third-best defense in the NBA per points per game allowed. They trail only the Indiana Pacers and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Also, James Harden is playing the best defense of his career.
James Harden has more blocks so far this season (30) than all of last season (29).
— jimmyist⁶ (@jimmyist) January 2, 2015
Even the third-best defense is allowed to mail-in a game or two from time to time.
WHAT THE … the Rockets defense seems to excel, almost exclusively, against teams (1) on the decline (i.e. Cleveland Cavaliers); (2) or with a sub-.500 record (i.e. Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat).
It is still to early to start blowing up things in Houston. The team is still, for now, one of the toughest teams to go through in the Western Conference. They still have a spot in the playoffs. Nevertheless, any of the previous inconsistencies could jeopardise their dream of hoisting a Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time in two-decades.
Fortunately for the Rockets, they have a little over half the season to figure out their issues and build upon a steady starting-five that could lift them past the top-seeded teams in the Western Conference.