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Houston Rockets: All-star break season in review

By Eric Spyropoulos

(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Houston Rockets are riding high into the NBA All-Star break. Let’s take a closer look at how the season has gone for Houston so far.

Heading into the All-Star break, the Houston Rockets are flying high. Having won 10 straight games, the Rockets have surpassed the Golden State Warriors for best record in the league at 44-13. While many still expect the Warriors to reclaim the top spot, Houston has a fighting chance to obtain home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, another possible advantage they would need in a playoff series against Golden State.

In fact, FiveThirtyEight projects the Rockets to finish 62-20, one game better than the Warriors. Whether the Rockets can stay healthy during the remaining portion of the season will most likely be the deciding factor in this race for home-court advantage.

The Rockets currently own the league’s best offense and seventh-best defense, per Cleaning The Glass (which excludes garbage time stats). They have stayed relatively healthy in recent weeks, as the team has begun to click. The Rockets are 14-1 in their past 15 games, boasting impressive road wins over the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as a home win over the Warriors.

James Harden has excelled in recent weeks, averaging 32.5 points, 8.8 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game in his last 10 games, and is the clear frontrunner for MVP heading into the break. Not only does Harden lead the league in scoring, he also leads the league in Player Efficiency Rating (30.5), offensive win shares (8.8), win shares (11.2), win shares per 48 minutes (.300), offensive box plus-minus (10.2), box plus-minus (10.9) and Value Over Replacement Player (5.9). So yeah, you could say he’s having an MVP season.

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    • Chris Paul is fitting in nicely as the Robin to Harden’s Batman, averaging 19.2 points, 8.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 40 percent on 3-pointers. Other key free agent signings such as P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute have been instrumental in Houston’s improved defense. Not only are both providing capable shooting (around 35 percent from deep), they are the two best defenders on the team, as they are capable of guarding a variety of positions on the perimeter and in the post.

    Luc Mbah a Moute ranks second among power forwards in defensive real plus-minus (3.17), and is posting a 1.3 defensive box plus-minus (compared to Tucker’s 1.4). Their defensive instincts and ability to switch everything have been crucial for the Rockets, as it was made clear when Mbah a Moute missed a month due to injury and the team’s defense fell off drastically.

    Moving forward, the things to watch with the Rockets are playing time and injuries. Yes, Houston should go for the 1-seed in order to get home-court advantage in a possible playoff series with the Warriors, but if they have to overextend key rotational players down the stretch of the season to get it, that might come back to bite them.

    With the recent signings of Joe Johnson and Brandan Wright, the Rockets are arguably the deepest team in the league. As a result of this, there should be games in late March and early April in which players begin resting. Chris Paul sits a game here, James Harden rests a game there, etc. There’s a reason all of the other contending team’s rest players, and it’s time the Rockets joined them down the stretch of the regular season.

    Next: 2017-18 Week 18 NBA Power Rankings

    If you’re a Rockets fan, enjoy the All-Star break. Your team withstood a rash of injuries and now owns the best record in the league and the frontrunner for MVP. The Rockets are a veteran team that will enjoy having a week off. With recent additions bolstering their depth, the Rockets have a chance to both fight for the 1- seed and rest key players later in the season — a luxury few other teams have.

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