The Next 5 Games Mean Everything. I'm f'in serious.

I don't think this tough stretch "means everything", purely because we have a comfortable buffer in the standings. If we were battling for position then it'd be a different story.

 

Really want to see the Rockets beat OKC for that nationally televised game. I am all-in for wanting Harden to get the MVP trophy, so a nice showing in that game will be big for the talking heads.

 

Houston is locked into the 3 seed. Roll out the Vipers for all i care.

The next 5 games could not mean less to me.

 

I think we're ready to roll, now. I'm going with 4-1. I say we dispatch NO and OKC, while taking 2 out of 3 against GS and Portland. The push for all the marbles heats up, and we ride it into the playoffs with BIG MO.

 

The Rockets are still playing for the league's 3rd best record. That does mean something if they manage to get to the Finals and Cleveland is presumably waiting for them. And let's not forget Harden's MVP campaign. The Rockets' surprising record is a major reason he's the narrow frontrunner. So these aren't necessarily must-wins, but they're pretty damn important games nonetheless(especially the OKC and GS ones).

 

Excellent point, this could be a reversal of fortune where we look past NOP to our folly (happened recently), and end up winning one against GSW.

 

Guys, just because the #3 seed is all but locked up, doesn't mean the Rockets should just coast to the end of the season. They need to be playing sharp ball. They can't just "turn it on" when the playoffs start. Being on a roll and in a rhythm to end the season and going into the playoffs means something. No bad habits.

 

exactly, that's why the experimenting with something new posts didn't really make much sense. Other than a known rest before hand guys that haven't played should not be playing aka end of bench guys at this point

 

2-3. I'm just not seeing any recent indication that the team has learned all that much from "bad" losses like Indiana, Utah and New Orleans. Yeah, we're all a bit more upbeat than usual after Harden hitting a game winner, but that shouldn't have even been a close game.

I'll be happy to be wrong, but right now I think "struggles in the second round" is quite what I'd expect too.

 

I agree that we still have to see some consistency with this team in terms of defensive focus, and taking care of the ball, but why shouldn't it have been close against the Nuggets?? Denver has the 3rd best offense in the league, young guys who can run and gun in the open court, knock-down shooters, and a big man that has elite scoring ability. Denver has been on a tear since the ASB, and is most likely going to end up in the playoffs. Beating that team 2 games in a row is an absolute accomplishment.

And out of the next 5 games, the New Orleans game worries me the most. I'm seriously serious.

 

Denver was 7-2 in their 9 games prior to the 2 defeats to the Rockets.

 

every single team has bad losses. houston isn't the only one. yes GS, SA, and Clev all have bad losses. what does this "struggles in the second round" even mean. you get down to the top 4 teams in the conference. Of course it's supposed to be a struggle. You're playing the best teams. It's not supposed to be easy bc it for sure won't be

 

Next five games mean nothing in my opinion. The Rockets are locked into the 3rd seed, so there isn't much to play for. Rockets will probably win two or three games.

 

Again, yes there is something to play for. The Rockets finishing with a better record than Cleveland does matter. And for those who prefer Memphis in Round 1(I'm not one of them, BTW), it wouldn't hurt to beat OKC on Sunday(plus it helps Harden's case for MVP).

 

I'd like to see coach play with different line ups and rotations in the next five games.

See how they hold up against good teams. It'll be valuable come playoff time. Run some new sets, get more versatile

 

in the context of the poll:

Struggles in the second round = probably not getting out of the second round.

Struggles in the first round = more than a small chance of loosing in the first round

Every team has bad losses, The rockets have more the GS, and SA.

More importantly, the rockets have shown extreme volatility in there style of play. More dramatically than GS or SA.

 

no you do not experiment at game 70 in the season. This isn't your local rec game

 

inb4 @DreamShook

 

when it comes to losses, that's not bad at all when you can only single out those two teams especially when I see only 1 star on this one while others field multiple

 

except this.. chill out with this.