http://www.nba.com/2014/news/powerrankings/02/24/week17/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt6d Houston (38-18) Pace: 98.3 (7), OffRtg: 107.7 (5), DefRtg: 102.2 (10), NetRtg: +5.6 (6) The Rockets are the only team that ranks in the top seven in both offensive and defensive efficiency since Jan. 1 and would have a 10-game winning streak if James Harden hit the game-winner at the end of regulation at Golden State on Thursday. So you can't really criticize them for (basically) standing pat at the deadline, but Wednesday's game in L.A. will be another interesting test. This week: @ SAC, @ LAC, vs. DET Schuhmann ranks the rockets 2nd (!!!) on his power rankings this week. I don't remember the last time the rockets were playing so well on a consistent basis. Lets hope we can finally take care of the kings and clippers this week.
They're playing great. I still think they are behind okc, heat, Indiana, and are on par with spurs and clippers. A lot of people for some reason seem to doubt the clippers but they are also top 10 in both. Their defense is just as good as the rockets in terms of opponent FG%, they have an outstanding 3 pt defense. Their only problem on defense like the rockets is defensive rebounding
I don't think Rockets are #2 overall, but with the way we've been playing like few weeks, we are up there for sure. Hope the trend continues
I want a convincing win against the clippers. Can someone break down the games and how the clippers burned us so bad?
If we take the Thunders, Spurs, Rockets, Clippers, Blazers, Pacers and Heat as the top seven teams in the NBA. So far the records among the WC excluding the Thunder are as follows in win%: Rockets 5-6 Blazers 7-8 Clippers 5-8 Spurs 3-11 And the records for these four teams against all playoffs teams in the league by the end of 2/23/2014: Rockets 18-11, 0.621 Spurs 18-14, 0.563 Blazers 15-13, 0.535 Clippers 16-14, 0.533 And the Rockets hold the best winning record of the league since Jan. 1, 2014. We should be really really proud of our team and every player for making this happen.
Clippers are going to be a real challenge for us. They have a deep bench and strengths at our weaknesses (PG and PF).
It's surprising blazers have such a decent record vs the top 7. They have the best offense in the league, but have an atrocious defense
if we can beat the clippers this week, i think this ranking will be justified. It's hard to complain about a team who has won 9 out of their last 10 (damn you steph curry), but this clippers game is going to be a real test of our metal. Hopefully we can finally solve the kings because we need to rest our starters for the clippers game on the 2nd night of that back to back
I agree. We need to do everything we can to prepare for our next two games against them. The next two games against them will decide if we would fall below the #4 seed by end of season and whether we would meet them in the first round. I have a more in-depth analysis in the Western Conference Standing thread on the different scenarios regarding how that would happen. The big surprise for most of us is that the Clippers so far haven't hold up well against the other top teams, or even some playoff teams in the East.
I didn't watch the entire games, but I recall that the first one was very early in the season. I think just their 4th game, and they basically got run out of the building from the opening tip. That was back when they were still trying the Twin Towers disaster and they allowed themselves to get into a deep hole that they never dug out of(unlike the previous game in Utah). The good news is they immediately bounced back the next night in Portland. The second loss was in Houston and again they got off to a terrible start thank to the Twin Towers lineup. Once they took Asik out, they immediately turned things around and went up 10, but the 2nd half saw one of those offensive dry spells they occasionally go through. Again though, that game was early in the season. Wednesday will be a true test for the Rockets. Yes, it's their 3rd game in 4 nights, so we shouldn't put too much stock in it. But it's the first time they'll face the Clippers with their established roster with T-Jones starting and a guy like D-Mo getting key minutes off the bench. Plus they're playing far better now than they were back in early November.
It is like the battles with the Jazz all over again, dang. And Paul and Griffin are cagey dirty cheats, just like Stockton and Malone.
I can't give a detailed breakdown, but here are some interesting facts about those games: Both games were played in the same week (1st game was in LA on 11-4-2013) (2nd game in HOU on 11-9-2013) Both games had our TT lineup that was before Jones became starter replacing Omer 1st game Pat Bev was out with an injury (I believe that was his abdominal injury), Rockets gave up 78 1st Half points (Lost 137-118). JJ Redick went off for 26 pts, CP3 had 23 pts, 17 assists, and J. Crawford had 21 off the bench. 2nd game Bev was back and put up 19, Parsons and Howard both had over 20 Pts, Redick and Griffin had 22 Pts for LAC, Paul had 14 Pts, 13 Assists, Rockets went -22 in second half (outscored 61-39) and lost 107-94.
You can also say Damn you McHale for not using our Foul to Give after Harden made the shot to put them up 2 (if we used that foul, GS would have had to inbound the ball and have less than 2 seconds to shoot). Agreed, even though they beat OKC and POR recently, they have lost against, SA, and MEM, the 2 teams that eliminated LAC last 2 seasons.
Thanks impressive having a 18-11 record, but the Rockets do have 9 more games with these teams (Clippers twice, Heat twice, Thunder twice, Pacers, TrailBlazers, and Spurs). To maintain a .621 percentage or better will be very difficult.
The clippers defensive rankings are good because they DEMOLISH bad offensive teams. It may not be true anymore, but I thought I read somewhere a couple weeks ago that the clippers have the second worst defense out of the western conference playoff teams vs. other western conference playoff teams. So when the teams are good, the clippers D struggles more than most. Now we may be the same but I haven't looked at the numbers.
