14. Houston Rockets 012-13 W-L Record: 2-2 PPG: 96.5 (17th in NBA) OPP PPG: 96.5 (13th in NBA) The Houston Rockets have one of the most recognizable rosters in the NBA. With James Harden and Jeremy Lin leading the way, the H-Town franchise has the star power necessary to garner national attention throughout the duration of the season. The question is, do they have the supporting cast to reach the postseason? Although a losing effort, the Rockets' 93-87 defeat against the Denver Nuggets proved they do. With Harden and Lin combining for 7-of-24 shooting, the Rockets stormed back from 15 down at the half to make it a five-point game during the fourth quarter. They were led by 19 points from Carlos Delfino and 18 points from Patrick Patterson, as well as 13 rebounds from Omer Asik. Although Harden failed to step up in the closing minutes, the Rockets proved that their role players could carry this team for three quarters. The real question is, are Lin and Harden legitimate NBA closers? If they are, the Rockets could finish much higher than 8th in the Western Conference. With all of this being established, Houston has questions about their depth. Delfino and Toney Douglas provide quality minutes, while Marcus Morris is progressing nicely, but there may not be enough shooters on the second unit. Delfino will not always step up and pour in four three-pointers. This beckons the question of when Daequan Cook will see the floor. It also makes you wonder if rookies Terrence Jones and Royce White will play at all. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1403062-updated-nba-power-rankings-post-mike-brown-firing/page/18 ------------------------------------------------ All LOF/H can suck eggs. Just relax and let the young team gel. James Harden and Jeremy Lin have only less than 50 starts combined in their career. Both will make many rookie mistakes especially Jeremy Lin and he is not the second coming of Magic Johnson.
I love the effort, OP, but these are the Bleacher Report rankings. The articles are written and lists are compiled by random dudes, while the design of the site itself has you clicking on each part of the list in order to drive up clicks and soak advertisers. In so many words, it's not a very credible source even for basketball opinions. Marc Stein's and (ugh) Hollinger's rankings are the standard-bearers. Those usually come out in a day or two.
The Lakers is ranked at the bottom so obviously we don't use this ranking or any other rankings by random internet sites as a measurement standard. Rather to point out the fact that the rockets has high ceiling given time to mature.
