Rockets’ Reckoning Looms: With Season’s Endgame Approaching, High Stakes and Unanswered Questions Hang Over Houston, Determining the Franchise’s Future Trajectory
There isn’t much time left for the Houston Rockets to compete for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Despite having their best season in five years, several teams are hot on Houston’s heels as many teams in the West believe they have enough to win a championship this year.
The Rockets will take a seven-game win streak into their road trip to Florida, but a gauntlet awaits Houston in the following games. The Rockets will play a few conference contenders as they try to hold on to their playoff seeding.
Houston is looking to take care of business against both Florida teams, the Orlando Magic, and the Miami Heat. Both teams have lost frequently in the past several weeks as they look to recover their success from earlier in the season. The Magic picked up a big comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their last game before their matchup with the Rockets. The Heat haven’t looked the same since trading Jimmy Butler away from the team. They still are filled with talented players, but they haven’t found a consistent identity to rely on, especially offensively.
The Rockets will have a two-game homestand when they return from Florida. They’ll then hit the road again to face two teams that are currently out of the postseason picture in the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns.
However, after those games is a gauntlet of the league’s best.
Following Houston’s game against Phoenix, the road trip continues to the West Coast for a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have new energy after trading for Luka Doncic in a move that shocked the NBA landscape. It’s the first time Doncic would play the Rockets since Houston’s first matchup of the year against the Dallas Mavericks.
A tough matchup against the Lakers leads the Rockets back home for another game against the Jazz, but then the real challenge begins.
Houston will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers, and the Denver Nuggets, respectively. None of those games will be easy for the Rockets but losing may be catastrophic to Houston’s bid for the second seed.
The Clippers and the Warriors have proven to be formidable opponents despite struggling to create space away from the Play-In seeds. The Thunder are by far the best team in the West, and the Nuggets and the Lakers may be the most experienced playoff teams in the league, a list that includes the Warriors as well.
These teams are the main competition for the Rockets as they seek prime seeding and homecourt advantage during the playoffs. A win could further cement the standings as teams approach single-digit remaining games. A loss could drop a team as far as the fifth seed, and a losing streak could allow Golden State a chance to climb higher in the standings.
The Rockets have several potential pitfalls to navigate before the season concludes. Their performance in the next few weeks will decide what their first postseason experience in five years will entail.
