The Houston Rockets are closing in on the 30-win mark despite still being in the middle of January.
Last season, the Rockets didn’t win their 30th game until Mar. 12, which is a sign of the team’s growth so far this year.
NBA.com writer John Schuhmann has taken notice, bumping the Rockets up one spot in his latest power rankings. After coming in last week at No. 4, the Rockets are now at No. 3.
“The Rockets dropped a rest-disadvantage game in Sacramento on Thursday, but won their two more important games last week, including one that clinched a tie-breaker with the third-place Grizzlies,” Schuhmann writes.
“With their wins over the Grizzlies and Nuggets (in Denver) last week, the Rockets have the best record (11-2) in games played between the seven Western Conference teams that are more than two games over .500, with both losses having come to the Thunder. They’ve been better offensively in those 13 games (116.7 points scored per 100 possessions) than they’ve been otherwise.”
A big reason behind the Rockets’ success has been due to the team’s offense, and Jalen Green can be given credit for the team’s breakout on that end of the floor.
“The offense has been terrific over the last 15 days in general. Having scored 124.9 points per 100 possessions (best in the league) over their last seven games, the Rockets have climbed from 14th to ninth on offense. They’re now one of four teams in the top 10 on both ends and one of only seven that have scored more points per 100 possessions than they did last season (113.7, 20th),” Schuhmann writes.
“The offensive surge starts with Jalen Green, who’s averaged 31.3 points on 55/54/94 shooting splits over this seven-game stretch. But it’s also important that Fred VanVleet has seemingly found his shot. His season-long 3-point percentage (33.2%) is still the worst mark of his career, but he’s 12-for-25 (48%) from beyond the arc over his last four games.”
The Rockets return to the court at 1 p.m. to take on the Detroit Pistons before playing a pair of games against the No. 1 team in the power rankings, the Cleveland Cavaliers, on Wednesday and Friday.
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