The next 10 games will tell us who we really are as a team

Yep, thats a big ole bad ass stretch of games. We are right in the middle of the toughest stretch of games this season. The Rockets seriously need to take care of business against SAC tomorrow night. I think if the Rockets go 6 wins and 4 losses you have to be happy but if they go 7 and 3 or even 8 and 2 you have to be ecstatic.

I'm going 8 wins and 2 losses!

Shoot for the moon right?

 

5-5 would be decent, 6-4 would be good, 7-3 would be great!

 

They could go 10-0, and still have questions about playing at their best come playoff time.

Until they go deep into the playoffs, this team really won't fully find itself.

 

I could see us winning between 5-8 games in this upcoming stretch. A lot of it depends on the schedules of the other teams and health. It's incredibly crucial that we win against the kings, pistons, and magic... those are all trap games sandwiched between title contenders in the clippers, heat, and pacers. It's going to be a tough stretch but I think with the confidence and energy we are playing with lately, we have a good chance to put ourselves on the map. This is the toughest part of our season, thankfully it's coming during the second half of the season when things seem to be clicking.

I think we go 6-4 or 7-3 during this stretch, with losses against the clippers, thunder and heat (once or twice)

 

They absolutely can't lose to the Kings, Pistons, or Magic. That's first. Then I think if we can split the rest I would be happy… I am thinking 6-4 would be great. That is one brutal stretch.

 

If the Bulls weren't missing their best player, this could easily be the worst five game stretch for any team in the league.

 

If we go by expectations

@Sacramento w

@Los Angeles l

vs Detroit w

vs Miami l

@Orlando w

vs Indiana l

vs Portland w

@Oklahoma City l

@Chicago w

@Miami l

5-5 is what we should expect...given expectations..Any better will be a luxury. If we go 8-2 or better I would say we are WCF contenders easily.

 

At this point it is impossible to tell. The Rockets are the hottest team in the NBA at this moment. There seems to be no deficiency at any roster position. There really is no game that I think would be a probable loss. But it is impossible to predict individual games. Given their current record and the SOS for the upcoming 10 games I would predict 6 wins.

 

The Rockets aren't exactly dominating games.

Yes, they are winning, but many games have come down to the wire.

 

We will win all our games, count me on it

 

But interestingly enough, according to Hollinger rankings the Rockets have had the highest margin of victory in the NBA over their last 25% of games. I am impressed at how the Rockets seem to be pulling out tough road wins that they would have lost 2 months ago.

 

It is true that 3 of our last 4 games came down to the wire but look at who our opponents were:

Wizards: 5th place in the east, but shouldn't have been that close but who could've predicted ariza hitting all those 3s

Warriors: good team who got to the 2nd round last year, no shame losing to them by 3 in overtime on the 2nd night of a road back-to-back

Phoenix: 7th place in the west, have an incredibly high powered offense that became even scarier when dragic just went off.

The important thing is that we won 2 of those close games. Earlier in the season we would've lost all 3. Winning is what matters in the NBA, not how close the final score was, especially when it comes against good teams

 

That's only 14 games. They have played a lot of bad teams and had a few blowouts.

 

The Milwaukee game was also close. It was a 3 point game with like 20 seconds left.

4 out of the past 8 games have been very close.

 

True enough. But didn't someone in the Rockets organization say that they thought that the Rockets would work things out for the first half of the season and then hopefully gel around the all star break? Projecting momentum going forward is difficult. Maybe I am being to optimistic.

 

@Sacramento W

@Los Angeles L

vs Detroit W

vs Miami L

@Orlando W

vs Indiana W

vs Portland W

@Oklahoma City L

@Chicago W

@Miami W

7-3

 

My prediction is 4-6 over the next 10... which is "okay" when you consider how terrible the schedule is. Anything over .500% is gravy during this schedule. If they go 7-3 or better, then they are "real" and it will be a deep playoff run.

 

Rocket will probably be favorited to win 5 of those games ( Sacramento, Detriot, Orlando, Portland and Chicago) However what sticks out to me is the lack of rest. The Rockets get only one day rest most the stretch and the Orlando game is a back to back road game....after Miami!