Southwest Division

Houston Rockets Power Rankings - 2012-13

Power Ranking
WEEKRECORDRANKCOMMENT
Week 2445-359Elaborating on that interesting stat that's being going around: More than 70 percent of the Rockets' minutes this season went to players under 25. That not only leads the league but makes their rise to No. 6 out West, along with James Harden's role in getting 'em there, even more impressive.
Week 2343-349Something tells me it's not what James Harden is rooting for, but how tasty/awkward would a Rockets/OKC series in the first round be? Entering Friday's trip to Portland, meanwhile, Houston was leading the league with 72 percent of its minutes logged to that point by players under 25.
Week 2240-339Even after the Rockets dumped the Spurs and Clips in a seven-day span, they couldn't help but envy the Astros, who just moved to the American League. A 1970s-style jump back to the East must sound good given Houston's 20-24 intra-conference record, worst among the West's top eight.
Week 2139-318They just pulled one out against the Spurs. They hold tiebreakers over Golden State and Utah. They're a season-high eight games over .500. And they've won 11 of 13 at home. So Houston does look like it's going to hang on to a playoff spot, especially with that plus-3.7 nightly point margin.
Week 2036-3110All the justified props Houston got for stealing Thomas Robinson did overshadow the fact that its short-term prospects were impacted by the exits of Patrick Patterson and Marcus Morris. The Rockets, suddenly clinging to No. 7 in the West, haven't won more than two in a row since January.
Week 1934-3010Of the six teams realistically battling for the final three playoff spots in the West, Houston entered Sunday's games with the easiest remaining schedule in terms of opponent winning percentage, with the Lakers not far behind. The toughest remaining schedules belong to Portland and Utah.
Week 1833-288The Rockets were due to bust out against their fellow Texans after nine straight L's to the Mavs, but busting out in general has long since become a habit. These Rockets are up to 20 games this season with at least 115 points, which they last achieved in 1990-91 by scoring that many 21 times.
Week 1731-278Elias says James Harden (26.4 PPG) will soon become the most prolific scorer ever among players who appeared in the NBA Finals and then switched teams, topping fellow lefty Gail Goodrich's 23.8 PPG for Phoenix in 1968-69. P.S. -- Jeremy Lin happens to be playing his best ball of the season, too.
Week 1629-268The question that hangs over actual happenings on the court in Houston involves the Rockets' quest to find a second star to pair with James Harden. But holding off the Lakers to make it into the postseason couldn't be a bad thing for this speedy bunch. (Rahat Huq, Red94)
Week 1528-259James Harden never gave us a chance to revel in the one-year anniversary of Linsanity because he's having the best February of anyone not named LeBron or Tony Parker. And the Rockets, following his bearded lead, are blitzing teams again to jump to eighth in average point differential (plus-3.0).
Week 1426-2312James Harden's new team and his old one are locked in a new duel they might not even be aware of. No team in history has ever had the highest per-game average in both scoring and turnovers. Houston is currently No. 2 in ppg and No. 30 in tpg; OKC ranks No. 1 and No. 29.
Week 1324-2215The downside of making your maiden All-Star appearance in your home arena: James Harden gets to play only six of his next 18 games at the Toyota Center. The same Harden who shot 20-for-80 in the four road games, all Ls, that preceded Houston's slump-busting win Friday at New Orleans.
Week 1221-2116That crash you just heard is the sound of the high-speed Rockets, after scoring 115 or more points a league-leading 12 times -- compared to zero last season -- hitting the half-season wall. Seven straight defeats, six of them on the road, is Houston's longest skid since a 15-gamer in the winter of 2001.
Week 1121-1711The Lakers have to believe that this is one of the teams they can catch. James Harden's offensive avalanche this winter, Jeremy Lin's gradual improvement and the Rockets' penchant for scoring 115 (or higher) have all obscured Houston's mere 7-13 mark against West foes.
Week 1020-148What gets the Rockets through all of the Royce White drama? I'm guessing it's the fact that James Harden, after that ridiculous start of his, is somehow on even more of a roll now, having scored at least 25 points in 12 straight games to move within one of Moses Malone's franchise record.
Week 916-1413James Harden has been living at the line as a nightly threat to score in the 30s all month, but routs absorbed in both OKC and Houston suggest that the Rockets -- as much as they'd love to make the playoffs -- would be best served avoiding the Thunder in Round 1 if they can at all help it.
Week 814-1212Since a frustrating loss at Toronto on Dec. 16, James Harden's Rockets have played about as well as they can play, ripping through the Knicks, Sixers and Griz and improving to 7-1 when Harden scores 30 or more. Beardsanity managed only three 30-point games in his three seasons in OKC.
Week 711-1217It was just last Monday that Jeremy Lin, taking the ball back with James Harden felled by an ankle sprain, rediscovered some Linsanity and uncorked 38 points on mighty San Antonio. Who's to say, on another Monday night, that Lin won't recapture some more magic in his ballyhooed NYC return?
Week 69-1017Saturday night's James Harden versus O.J. Mayo shootout briefly took you back to that unforgettable T-Mac versus Dirk laser show in 2006 ... but the true highlight came before the opening tip when the Mavs, one by one, walked to the Rockets' bench to welcome Kevin McHale back to work.
Week 58-815Might be on to something: James Harden averages 29.4 ppg on .528 shooting in Houston's wins ... and 18.9 ppg on .318 shooting in losses. Should also point out: Chandler Parsons, Patrick Patterson and Omer Asik are all exceeding expectations while most of us fixate on Harden and Jeremy Lin.
Week 46-717You might not see another offensive eruption all season from the Rockets like the one they mustered in the Jeremy Lin Bowl, but talking about basketball in Houston any further, quite frankly, feels incredibly empty in the wake of the terrible tragedy Kevin McHale and his family are facing.
Week 34-622The focus inevitably is going to stay mostly on the ever-swarmed James Harden or Jeremy Lin -- or absentee rookie Royce White for different reasons -- but don't forget about Omer Asik. The 7-footer has five double-doubles already after managing only one in his first two seasons in Chicago.
Week 23-321Call it a back-to-reality week for the increasingly smothered James Harden and his new team. Harden shot 15-for-47 from the floor (.319) in three games, averaged just 17.7 ppg and ran out of games against that friendly Detroit D with the Rockets' season series with the Pistons over now.
Week 12-116You only get one guess to work out who'll be named as the season's first Western Conference Player of the Week. But please note Jeremy Lin is Linning again, too, with GQ's November cover and the arrival of Beardsanity to help him share the spotlight and burden after a sluggish October.
Preseason0-021Harden's arrival takes pressure off of Jeremy Lin in the midst of Lin's camp/knee woes. Lin's presence should eventually absorb some of the brighter spotlight all over Harden now. The Rockets still need a lot more, but those two -- with Asik -- form a core to start with. At last.
Training Camp34-3226Better to be stockpiling trade assets and scheming from lottery land to finally pull off a blockbuster than chase a playoff spot. The Rockets, sporting J-Lin and Kev Martin and not much else these days after Orlando spurned all their Dwight proposals, are about to seriously test that theory.

Houston Rockets