Houston Rockets: 5 Keys To Winning The West

By Duncan Smith | Oct 23, 2015

Oct 19, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) brings the ball up the court during the first quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mar 17, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas (20) takes the ball to the basket during the first quarter as Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Mar 17, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas (20) takes the ball to the basket during the first quarter as Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Stay Healthy

The most remarkable aspect of the Rockets’ deep run last year was the fact that they did it in spite of what should have been a crippling injury load. They lost a total of 399 games to injuries last year. To put that in perspective, only the Minnesota Timberwolves finished with more lost games, and they had 438. As for playoff teams, the Toronto Raptors were a close third with 390, but they didn’t have to navigate the gauntlet that was the 2014-15 Western Conference.

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In the Western Conference among playoff teams, you have to go all the way down to 17th to find the next most injury-hampered Western Conference playoff team. That was the Portland Trail Blazers, and they lost 325 games to injury.

The injury woes were spread far and wide amongst the Rockets, with almost everybody who was on the roster for the whole season spending time sidelined. In fact, Trevor Ariza, Donatas Motiejunas, Jason Terry and James Harden are the only Rockets’ players who played more than 69 games last season.

Point guard Patrick Beverley missed 26 games regular season games and all of the playoffs. Terrence Jones missed 49 games with nerve inflammation and a partially collapsed lung. Dwight Howard missed 41 games, only playing a half season, and returning just in time for the playoffs.

Howard’s injury issues were even worse than it seemed, as it was revealed in early October that he played through a torn MCL and meniscus in the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

Dwight Howard just told us on Texans Radio that he played through a torn MCL and meniscus during the WCF vs the Warriors
— Mike Meltser (@MikeMeltser) October 8, 2015

This year the Rockets are deeper, with the addition of Ty Lawson and two rookies in Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell who should both be able to step in and contribute early. They may be able to weather any injuries that might arise even better than last year’s Western Conference finalist squad, but if they can stay healthy this is a frightening team indeed.

Next: No. 4

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