We're on the road for the next three games, and two of those are against East Coast doormats Miami and Orlando. If we can somehow snag a win against the Pacers tomorrow, then not drop our effort against these two, we'll be sitting pretty when we come back: 27-17 with a cushy schedule coming up. After this trip, over the next six weeks 17 of our next 22 games are at home. That's a whole lot of practice time that can't help but benefit. If they keep up their current slow-but-steady progression, I'd expect the team to be near the top of the Western Conference at that point, and then they'll hopefully be ready to weather the rest of the season, where only 11 of our last 17 are on the road.
Damn, people sure are optimistic after beating a six-games-under .500 Knicks team that we already trounced by 30 not two weeks ago...Looks like my work is cut out for me.
2-1 is a must on the upcoming road trip. Absolutely no way we should drop games to Orlando or Miami. Those are the types of teams that Yao should dominate against. The Pacers game will be a defensive war. If we lose that game there should not be any shame since they are a QUALITY team. If we can somehow pull off a win in Indiana that would show a lot of improvement. A 3-0 road trip would be tremendous. I really wish we could put together a nice winning streak. I think Memphis is on a 5 game streak right now. It sure would be nice to have one of those!
Trying my best to be realistic here: Let's say they come up short against the Pacers. They still should beat Miami and Orlando, even on the road. But let's say they drop their guard and go 1-2 on this trip. That puts them at 25-19 coming up on their easy stretch. They're 14-5 at home so far, winning 74%, and 10-12 on the road (45%). Apply those percentages to the 22-game easy stretch (17 at home) and you've got about 15-7 during that span. That would put us at 40-26 going into the final quarter of the season. Percentages, sure, but it's a pretty good indictation of where we could be come mid-March.
Actually, I believe they're on a 6-game winning streak. That's the problem with the Midwest. The Rockets have played really well lately(winning 7 out of 10), yet they're still stuck in 5th place in their own division. As far as them putting together a lengthy winning streak, that would be nice, but at least they're doing a good job these days of bouncing back after a loss. Last year, it seemed like they'd always follow a 3 or 4-game win streak with at least a couple losses in a row. Now they have these mini-win streaks sandwiched around a single loss. That's how you become the type of team that consistently wins 55-60 games every year, so this bodes well for the Rockets' future.
