I dont think other teams give a flip about top 10 rankings. But beating Denver probably got their attention.
Rockets have the best wing defenders........they might not be super athletic leapers but they have strong and quick hands, strong core. It is a shame Silas could not use 2 of them.
Pretty wild that our rebuild is happening this quick. Pistons are still at the bottom, meanwhile we are right next to OKC who began their process with CP3.
6th! Enjoy it now. The upcoming 8 games are pretty brutal, with two b2b, 5 games in 8 days, and facing Denver twice, Lakers twice, and GSW once. A young team tends to struggle on the road, and the vets need more time to rest. This will really test the Rockets. The last two weeks of December look even more brutal.
Up to #8 from #26 in one week from NBA.com's power ranking. #8 HOUSTON ROCKETSLast Week:26↑ Record: 6-3 OffRtg: 113.1 (10) DefRtg: 108.1 (5) NetRtg: +5.1 (7) Pace: 96.9 (30) The longest winning streaks (all of them active) of the young season belong to the Sixers (eight games), the Wolves (six) and … the Rockets! Houston’s six-game streak includes a 34-point, wire-to-wire victory against the Lakers and an upset of the Nuggets on Sunday. Three takeaways Alperen Sengun is having a breakout season, averaging 19.4 points (on an effective field goal percentage of 61.6%), 8.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists. He’s also cut his turnovers down significantly, from 13.7 (last season) to just 8.9 per 100 possessions used. The Rockets’ much bigger improvement has come on defense, where they’ve allowed 10.5 fewer points per 100 possessions than they did last season. A lot of that’s about 3-point shooting (32.2%, including 25.4% from the corners) that’s not necessarily in the Rockets’ control, but they’ve also seen a drop in opponent field goal percentage in the paint, as well as a jump in opponent turnover rate. Good defense starts in transition, and the Rockets have allowed just 15.6 points per game in transition, fewest in the league and down from 27.2 (most in 19 years of Synergy tracking) last season. The transition defense improvement was noted last week, but it’s so remarkable that it’s worth repeating, and the average has gone down in the last seven days. The Nuggets’ 11 transition points on Sunday were their fewest of the season. It’s not a good time for the Rockets to have their longest (non-All-Star) break of the season, but they don’t play again until Friday, when they begin a three-game, four-day trip with an In-Season Tournament game against the Clippers. Week 4: @ LAC*, @ LAL https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2023-24-week-4
11. Houston Rockets 2023-24 record: 6-3 Previous ranking: 22 Next games : @ LAC (Nov. 17), @ LAL (Nov. 19), @ GS (Nov. 20) The Rockets? On a six-game winning streak? The No. 4 seed in the West? Fred VanVleet has led this shocking charge, averaging 18.2 points, 8.3 assists and only 1.5 turnovers during this stretch. Over the previous four decades, the only Houston players to amass that many points and assists with that few turnovers over a six-game span are Chris Paul and Tracy McGrady. VanVleet also has been essential to the Rockets' drastically improved defense, which ranks fifth in the league (108.6 rating) after being in the bottom four each of the past three seasons. -- MacMahon https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...ngs-mavs-climb-ranks-okc-wolves-assert-top-10
#17 HOUSTON ROCKETS Last Week:15↓ Record: 8-6 OffRtg: 111.9 (19) DefRtg: 106.8 (1) NetRtg: +5.1 (6) Pace: 97.1 (28) The Rockets are 0-5 (and the league’s only winless team) on the road, having been outscored by 24 points from 3-point range (in a five-point loss) at Golden State on Monday. But they’re 8-1 (with eight straight wins) at home, having held the Grizzlies and Nuggets to just 90.8 points per 100 possessions later in the week. Three takeaways With the Rockets holding both of these last two opponents well under a point possession, the bigger difference between the Home Rockets and the Road Rockets has been on defense; They’ve allowed 12.9 fewer points per 100 possessions at the Toyota Center than they have elsewhere. On the other end of the floor, Jabari Smith Jr. has an effective field goal percentage of 67.2% at home and just 45.8% on the road. Their starting lineup has played more minutes than any five-man group and the Rockets rank 28th in bench scoring (just 26.6 points per game). But bench minutes were big in both of their wins last week. The Memphis game was tied late in the third quarter, but the Rockets went on a 28-9 run spanning the third and fourth. Two nights later, they were tied with the Nuggets late in the first quarter before going on a 28-2 run spanning the first and second. The Rockets will win West Group B in the In-Season Tournament … if they can get their first road win of the season in Dallas on Tuesday. They’ve played four more home games than road games, and the tournament finale is the start of a three or four-game trip, depending on their Week 7 schedule. Week 6: @ DAL*, @ DEN, @ LAL
Way too early to put us in the top 10 teams unless your power rankings are just based on a statistical formula. I still feel like we're in the middle of the park, pending a larger sample size showing these results. If this level of performance continues for, say, twice as many games, then sure.
BSPN 17. Houston Rockets 2023-24 record: 18-17 Previous ranking: 18 Next games: @ CHI (Jan. 10), @ DET (Jan. 12), @ BOS (Jan. 13), @ PHI (Jan. 15) Injuries to Dillon Brooks (oblique) and Tari Eason (lower leg) have created an opportunity for rookie forward Cam Whitmore. The 19-year-old has scored 54 points in 69 minutes over the past five games and shot 58.3% from the floor and 53.8% on 3s, a stretch in which the Rockets went 3-2. It's the first time that Whitmore, who played in only five of the Rockets' first 25 games, has appeared in five straight NBA games. The No. 20 overall pick displayed his scoring ability by averaging 27.0 points with a 62.4 true shooting percentage in 13 G League games. -- MacMahon
The Athletic has us at #19 https://theathletic.com/5205218/2024/01/23/nba-power-rankings-celtics-thunder-nuggets/
4th-easiest remaining strength of schedule. We are 17th in net rating at the moment. We do still have a real chance to finish the season with a winning record, if we can get Tari back and keep everyone healthy the rest of the way.
