Houston Rockets: 3 biggest takeaways from current win streak

3. Rockets’ bench still a work in progress

To say that the Rockets don’t have a good second unit would be a major understatement, to say the least. In fact, Houston’s bench averages just 27.6 points per contest, which places them last in the league in this category.

While the Rockets have been playing well as of late, their second unit has not played a vital role in the process. In the team’s 111-104 win against the Portland Trail Blazers a week ago, the reserves chipped in with 37 points, nearly 10 points higher than their season average.

Unfortunately, the scoring production has dipped, with the bench scoring a total of just 30 points in the team’s last two outings. In the short-term, this puts a lot of pressure on the starting five to play a lot of minutes while doing their best to remain efficient.

Looking down the road, though, if the Rockets are going to be a tough out in the playoffs — if they even make it that far — the second unit will need to play at a higher level than what we are seeing right now.