Spoiler: Warriors are #1, which is beyond ridiculous. Barely beat the Knicks and lost twice before that.. Beverley being the stud makes sense, he looked great!!
Rockets with the highest NETRTG since the All-Star Break. Variance FTW! http://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced...NET_RATING&dir=-1&SeasonSegment=Post All-Star
1. Houston Rockets (46–21) Last Week: 2 Net Rating: +6.4 Houston is on the verge of clinching a playoff berth with its massive win over Cleveland and becomes just the fifth team to sit in the top spot of the rankings over the last two seasons, joining Golden State, San Antonio, Cleveland and the LA Clippers. I’ll say it again: they’ve got a real chance. http://www.si.com/nba/2017/03/13/nb...ckets-san-antonio-spurs-golden-state-warriors
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18892944/nba-power-rankings-marc-stein-week-21-rankings 2. Houston Rockets 2016-17 record: 46-21 Previous ranking: 4 The Rockets, even after Sunday night's win over Cleveland, are a mere 15-16 this season against teams sporting .500-or-better records. They're also just 15-12 since that 31-9 start that got folks so excited about Houston's prospects in the first place. Do such #wellactually factoids make you in any way hesitant to say that James Harden & Co. are poised to capitalize on the potential health-related vulnerabilities that have cropped up in Golden State and San Antonio? Or are you more impressed by the fact that the Rockets emerged from what ESPN's Basketball Power Index pinpointed as their most difficult six-game stretch of the season with a 4-2 mark thanks to the win over the Cavs? Houston ranks as one of just three teams all season that can claim wins over San Antonio, Golden State and Cleveland. Yet it sounds as though Harden himself has been hoping for more from the West's No. 3 seed than we've seen of late, telling local reporters Sunday night: "We've proven [ourselves], but it's been a while. Tonight was a big game for us."
I agree with Harden. We know this team has left a lot of the floor in several games and let a lot of little things bite them in the ass down the stretch in several of those games.
Rockets now T-2 Best Offense of All-Time Code: Rk Season Tm Lg G W L W/L% 2P 2PA 3P 3PA FT FTA PTS SOS Pace ORtg DRtg eFG% 1 1986-87 LAL* NBA 82 65 17 .793 3576 6798 164 447 2012 2550 9656 -0.99 101.6 115.6 106.5 .528 2 1991-92 CHI* NBA 82 67 15 .817 3505 6714 138 454 1587 2132 9011 -0.37 94.4 115.5 104.5 .518 3 2016-17 HOU NBA 67 46 21 .687 1708 3104 983 2719 1347 1760 7712 -0.01 99.0 115.5 108.6 .547 4 1987-88 BOS* NBA 82 57 25 .695 3328 6200 271 705 1846 2300 9315 0.22 97.9 115.4 109.4 .541 5 2009-10 PHO* NBA 82 54 28 .659 2609 5018 730 1770 1631 2117 9039 -0.23 95.3 115.3 110.2 .546 6 2016-17 GSW* NBA 66 52 14 .788 2058 3708 782 2066 1212 1533 7674 -0.34 100.2 115.3 104.4 .560 7 1995-96 CHI* NBA 82 72 10 .878 2749 5543 544 1349 1495 2004 8625 -0.44 91.1 115.2 101.8 .517 8 1994-95 ORL* NBA 82 57 25 .695 2937 5487 523 1412 1648 2465 9091 -0.62 95.1 115.1 107.8 .539 9 1986-87 DAL* NBA 82 55 27 .671 3363 6720 231 653 2148 2717 9567 -0.77 100.5 114.9 108.7 .503 10 1994-95 SEA* NBA 82 57 25 .695 2819 5436 491 1305 1944 2564 9055 -0.27 95.5 114.8 106.3 .527 11 1990-91 CHI* NBA 82 61 21 .744 3477 6701 155 424 1605 2111 9024 -0.53 95.6 114.6 105.2 .521 12 1994-95 PHO* NBA 82 59 23 .720 2772 5383 584 1584 1777 2352 9073 -0.02 95.9 114.5 110.4 .524 13 2004-05 PHO* NBA 82 62 20 .756 2555 4992 796 2026 1556 2080 9054 -0.04 95.9 114.5 107.1 .534 14 2015-16 GSW* NBA 82 73 9 .890 2412 4567 1077 2592 1366 1790 9421 -0.38 99.3 114.5 103.8 .563 15 1996-97 CHI* NBA 82 69 13 .841 2754 5520 523 1403 1381 1848 8458 -0.11 90.0 114.4 102.4 .511 16 1981-82 DEN* NBA 82 46 36 .561 3940 7507 40 149 2371 2978 10371 -0.40 109.8 114.3 113.9 .522 17 1994-95 UTA* NBA 82 60 22 .732 2942 5538 301 801 1939 2483 8726 -0.23 92.6 114.3 105.7 .535 18 1984-85 LAL* NBA 82 62 20 .756 3862 6959 90 295 1702 2232 9696 -0.87 103.2 114.1 107.0 .551 19 2016-17 CLE NBA 65 43 22 .662 1724 3309 859 2207 1172 1566 7197 -0.40 96.5 114.1 109.8 .546 20 1989-90 LAL* NBA 82 63 19 .768 3125 6169 309 841 1902 2417 9079 -0.04 96.3 114.0 107.0 .512 Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 3/13/2017.
@ Clippers - W vs. Grizzlies - W @ Spurs - L vs. Jazz - L @ Chicago - W vs. Cleveland - W 4-2 in a tough six game stretch. Not bad at all, Rockets.
Well, Bev did say we are a bad ass team. I am inclined to believe anything the man says. I guess that would put us near the top.
Reality is should have been 5-1 and I dare say if we had Ryan for the second half of the Spurs game and the full Jazz game we would have gone 6-0
Power rankings roundup: http://www.nba.com/rockets/rockets-power-rankings-roundup-1 Rockets Power Rankings Roundup We go around the web to see where your Rockets rank this week! NBA.COM - 3rd - In the case for Mike D'Antoni for Coach of the Year, it should be noted that not only did the Rockets make a huge jump offensively this season, but they rank as the sixth most improved defensive team, having allowed just 0.5 more points per 100 possessions than they did last season, with the league average jumping 2.3. But if you value fourth quarters over the rest of the game, then James Harden probably isn't your MVP pick. Harden has shot just 35 percent in the clutch this season and 37 percent in fourth quarters since the All-Star break. The Rockets have been outscored by 2.8 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter after getting outscored 78-50 in the final 12 minutes of weekend games against Detroit and Sacramento. They did get Ryan Anderson back from an ankle injury for those two games, and he made nine of his 13 3-point attempts. ESPN.COM - 4th - Eric Gordon has secured my Sixth Man Award vote. Mike D'Antoni (spoiler alert!) has an excellent chance to land atop my coach of the year ballot that will be unveiled Tuesday. And James Harden, of course, is still right there with Russell Westbrook in an MVP brain twister that I'm taking until Thursday to settle on this scorecard. Throw Kawhi Leonard back in there if you wish, as mentioned in the Spurs comment, but this sentiment hasn't changed: There's really no wrong answer here. All three have strong cases, and all three have holes in their résumés to seize upon if you feel the need. Our head hurts trying to work through all the permutations. The Rockets clearly feel that the attention Westbrook is getting for his triple-double exploits is unfairly affecting Harden's campaign -- judging by the recent missives from the team's own Twitter feed and several tweets from GM Daryl Morey -- but it's also true that Harden might have had this thing wrapped if the Rockets maintained their 31-10 pace from the first half. Like it or not, Houston is only a 23-16 team in the season's second half, which we suspect has slowed some of Harden's MVP momentum as Westbrook has surged ... just as Cleveland's 23-21 record since Jan. 8 derailed LeBron James' MVP bid. SI.COM - 3rd - The Rockets are locked into what looks like a favorable matchup against the Thunder. It’s also going to devolve into an extension of this year’s contentious MVP debate. Pat Beverley will be the X-factor as Houston tries to slow down Russ and make waves in the postseason. With the number of offensive weapons they have, I’m bullish overall here. BLEACHERREPORT.COM - 4th - And on the 77th day, James Harden rested. Sidelined by an illness for Sunday's win over Phoenix, the Beard was a spectator for the first time this year. He recovered just fine, pumping in 31 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in his return against Denver on Wednesday. The Rockets take a hit this week for a couple of reasons, though. First, they lost Sam Dekker to a broken hand—not a devastating blow, but one that'll cost them a rotation player who could man both forward spots in a pinch. Second, Houston is 0-3 in its last three games against playoff-bound competition. Two of those losses came to the otherworldly Warriors (one this week), so we can't judge too harshly. But there have to be consequences for small slips at this point in the rankings. ROTOWORLD.COM - 3rd - The MVP debate this season is already wild enough as it is, and while the MVP will be voted on before the playoffs, you have to love that the two leading candidates in James Harden and Russell Westbrook will be matched up in the first round. Does Harden think he can win the award? He thinks Houston’s record is his best case. "I think that's the most important thing. I thought winning is what this is about -- period," Harden said "I'm not going to get in-depth with all that, but I thought winning was the most important thing. If you set your team up in a position to have a chance, at the ultimate goal, that's the most important thing." CBSSPORTS.COM - 7th - James Harden's wrist pretty clearly isn't right, and it's getting to be more and more of a concern. He's shooting just 41 percent from the field and 30 percent from three in the last 10 games.
