Rest is way under-rated, especially when you're as young as the Rockets

Also, people misunderstand the impact of Youth.

For example, endurance is one of the last things to go with age. Marathoners peak around 30-35. And there are competitive Marathoners well into their 40's.

Quick twitch muscles (speed/explosion) on the other hand start declining around 30 and continue to decline steadily, however keep in mind that it doesn't decline THAT quickly.

The one advantage youth has is injuries and injury recovery time. Higher testosterone levels help considerably in terms of recovering and building/rebuilding muscle mass when you're in your 20's vs your 30's. That and having significantly less wear and tear (lower mileage) helps in terms of injury crossing the line from painful to debilitating.

There may be some advantage to recovering from fatigue when you're a very young team like the Rockets, but I buy into the argument that it's not sufficiently large to offset the difference in experience of older teams when it comes to physically and mentally adjusting to the unique rigors of back to back games and travel.