BREAKING: Sam Amick/USAToday Lovin' Them Some Rockets

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...hris-paul-rockets-title-contenders/930103001/

James Harden, Chris Paul pairing has Rockets playing like title contenders
Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports Published 10:45 a.m. ET Dec. 7, 2017 | Updated 11:32 a.m. ET Dec. 7, 2017

Mike D’Antoni was the one who had preached patience, who told the basketball world his Houston Rockets would need time to adjust to the return of nine-time All-Star Chris Paul.

“It's going to set us back - no doubt about it,” D’Antoni told USA TODAY Sports early last month. “There’s going to be a learning curve.”

Instead, here’s what we’ve learned since the NBA’s preeminent point guard coach welcomed Paul back after a 14-game absence on Nov. 16 and reunited him with MVP frontrunner/fellow point guard James Harden.

The Rockets’ defense makes them title contenders

Yes, it’s still somewhat early in the season. But the Rockets, 7-0 since Paul returned from his knee injury and a Western Conference-leading 18-4 heading into Thursday’s game at Utah, finally have the kind of two-way formula that could put them on the Golden State Warriors’ level.

We knew they would be dominant offensively because, well, they did that even before Paul decided to leave the Clippers last summer. But despite longstanding narratives that D’Antoni teams don’t defend or that no team with Harden could excel defensively, this group’s ability to do just that is making believers out of rival executives.

After finishing 18th in defensive rating last season (106.4 points allowed per 100 possessions) when they went 55-27 and fell to the Spurs in the second round, the Rockets are currently fifth (100.9). Why does this defensive elevation matter so much? Because as Paul has been reminding his teammates, only one team in the past 40 seasons (the 2001-02 Lakers) was able to win a title while not having a defense that was ranked in the top 10 (they were 19th).
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