Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking their top championship threats

4. Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets have made several moves during the past few months. The first part was to pair up ex-teammates James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Despite most people’s initial beliefs, the duo has not disappointed thus far, as they have placed Houston in a top-half Western Conference finish.

But, apparently, this just wasn’t enough for the Texans, as they decided to orchestrate a huge 4-team trade that would land them Robert Covington at the expense of discarding Clint Capela‘s services.

By doing so, the Rockets basically gave up on the whole “big man” idea. They have taken the long-used small-ball strategy and turned it into tiny-ball. But…once again despite initial thoughts, things haven’t gone bad for them so far.

The team’s first test trial would be against the Lakers on the 6th of February. The Rockets managed to knock everybody’s socks off by defeating the Lakers who are known to use big bodies to score and play through the convenience of the paint.

H-Town has won 6 of their first 8 games with this rebranded style of play. Though their offense seems to be rolling, rebounding the ball is going to be a big issue, moving forward. During those 8 games, Houston has been out-rebounded in every single one of them, even when playing against weaker oppositions.

The squad’s shots seem to be falling and that’s good for them. Unfortunately, a time will come, when they won’t be shooting lights out.

The Lakers and the Rockets are the league’s two best teams when playing against .500 or better rivals. The Lakers are 15-10, while the Rockets trail just one game, at 14-10. One thing is for sure, a playoff series against these teams will be a heck of a ride.