By the end of the year, will we be good enough to take OKC and Denver in the playoffs?

Well... considering we really should have beaten OKC in game 1 of the season, I think yes we will be good enough.

But that doesn't guarantee we win in the small moments....

 

Possible.... Not probable. OKC is really good..... We would need a pretty seamless acquisition for our biggest need while still having growth from the young core plus Durant health.

 

I think the Rockets will match up well with any team that does not have a tough defender for Sengun like Draymond. I don’t know if OKC or Denver has anyone of that ilk. I get that KD is really good and has huge gravity. But sengun is our best and primary distributor and playmaker. If he gets stymied, our offense reverts to last years offense.

 

Shouldn't it be April, May, June?

 

I mean we took OKC to overtime on their floor on the day of their ring ceremony on day 1. Of course we can hang with them. Would we be favorites or would the odds be somehow even? I dont think so. But I also dont think people would be calling it a major upset if we beat them in the playoffs.

Biggest thing is probably health - and thats true for every contender.

 

I like our chances against anyone this year. This team is special and will only get better. They are just learning to play together and already have the top offense. the number 5 defense, and top point differential.

 

Yeah but Okc gonna be much better with mid-season Hardenesque Jay dub and revamped shooters in Joe, Wiggins, Mitchell....all former 2 way contracts.

Also Ajay Mitchell is going to draw fouls like SGA lite literally.

Not to say their glue guys are a bunch, Wallace, Caruso and above all Kenrich Williams.

The Rockets are amassing Regular season wins, the Thunder are amassing OT games, losses are actually preferred to simulate tight Playoff scenarios.

Daigneault and Presti are still way ahead.

I am waiting for Denver to flex muscles anytime.

 

I said it in another thread. Come playoffs, I'll take our chances with:

Durant guarded by Williams
Vs
SGA guarded by Amen

And

Durant/Sengun/Amen scoring trio
Vs
SGA/Williams/Chet scoring trio

Not worried about OKC.

Jokic is the only unstoppable one, that worries me a bit. Still think we are far superior to them defensively.

 

Curry always killed us and in addition to Jimmy Butler, they seem to have our number. Our giant line up will make a difference though because one bad shooting game will doom them.

 

March is 6-months from Van Vleet's surgery. Modern Medicine that's available to athletes is probably pretty crazy..

 

I disagree.

Dort will guard KD and use his strength to get into his legs, not Williams.

SGA easily the best bucket getter/get to the line guy in a HOU v OKC series. I do trust that Amen, Tari, Okogie, DFS can make him earn every bucket, but SGA is the mvp and is great. And he gets the playoff whistle.

On opening night, OKC had freaking Caruso guarding Sengun. I don’t think that’s the plan when they are fully healthy.

A healthy OKC squad will be able to pressure the ball while having rim protection. They will do what is necessary to crash on Sengun, use Dort to wear down KD, and press up on outside shooters. They will do their best to expose our lack of another player with handles to get into the paint.

Houston v OKC would be an instant classic series. But OKC would clearly be the favorites.

I am far less worried about Denver. Jokic is great, but i think we can handle him better than SGA. And Denver doesn’t have the defensive chops of OKC.

 

By the end of the year, will we be good enough to take OKC and Denver in the playoffs?

I think the word you’re looking for is “or”, as in Rockets are first seed, OKC 2, the Denvers 3 so we can take either.

 

Yes, I think we could. I think we can beat anyone. Would I give us good odds? Not at all. Maybe 20% against OKC. But the Pacers took the Thunder to 7 games last year. Was that team better than this one? I don't think so, personally.

 

With "roster tweaks", sure. That roster tweak needs to involve a reliable point guard or, at worst, a point guard that Ime will play.

Reed Shepherd is fine as backup and that's it. Amen is shoehorned in as PG but it's at the expense of his D, to some extent. His steals and blocks are waaaaaaaaay down; there's not as much evidence of the first-team "D". (Of course, we got bigger so maybe the other dudes are filling the void, but still.)

 

I love that Reed is shooting over 40 percent from 3 now, that's huge progress. But he's generally been a liability otherwise. I'm not optimistic he'll be ready to start by season's end either, but that kind of progress is exactly what we need from Reed to contend this year. Well, unless Amen and Sengun continue to improve their point guard/play making duties. And honestly, that would be most dangerous because teams won't be as used to that as game planning for a traditional point guard.

 

Well let me debunk that very quickly and easily by letting you know Durant's career average and his ppg against Dort is exactly the same: 26ppg.

Dort has no chance against KD. A 36 year old KD is not falling for the "get into his legs" gimmick. Dort is 6'3 dude. Maybe Williams can try the legs thing because he won't be able to challenge the apex of the jumper either.

I stand by what I said. If we're trading shot for shot, I'll take Durant over any Thunder defender vs SGA over Amen. Amen is not your average excellent wing defender. He's arguable the best perimeter defender in the NBA as well as the best rim-protecting guard in the NBA. It's just a whole other tier that Dort and Williams will never reach. Dort would be like Amen if Dort suddenly became the most athletic player in NBA history lol.

The gap between KD (26ppg at 64 TS%) and SGA's (33ppg at 63 TS%) scoring is not that wide. Amen will cover that spread easily.

As far as Denver - none of Capela, Adams or Sengun can guard him so we can throw as many guys at him as we like but we simply don't have an elite defensive big. He'll bring all 3 out to the FT line and perimeter and expose a mistake I've been highlighting forever: there's too much duplication in our C rotation. He'll toast all of them in the playoffs. The question is can we hold the other 4 to mediocre shooting.

 

I have a very strong feeling he'll be back before playoffs. I think he's well aware that if we have a good playoff run without him, he'll never start for us again. He'll try to get ahead of that.

 

Sooooooooooo..... yer saying that its better to lose games during the regular season - as opposed to winning them.... idk bro... i mean, i get dealing with and overcoming adversity... but i doubt u can convince me that losing games makes you inherently better for playoff basketball... i would think finding a way to win those close reg season games is better developmentally than losing them...

 

I am saying we are getting better, and they are getting better, each in each's category plus they have the Championship experience.

I trust Presti a lot more than Stone to be honest.

The Rockets have a size advantage and better Offense for sure but they have the better Superstar and better Defense, plus they are overall better. Daigneault is also the devil coach that plays everyone, which Udoka doesn't do.....You tell me.

The Rockets pray that Denver and OKC have key injuries, so they can steal a series home.....

 

By "end of year" do you mean 12-31-2025? if so, then no.

If by end of season, all playoffs teams have a shot. Maybe OKC is slumping in May? or OKC has some injury issues they are working through? or the Rocket have just spent the entire season as the NBA's #1 offensive team and are playing defense well?

As an aside, back when Dream and the Rockets won the Championships, they could not beat the Seattle Sonics. Matchups used to be a very real thing.