Analyzing the Houston Rockets' Shot at History

One of the biggest stories this NBA season was the Celtics' chase for 70 plus wins. Some of us were thrilled at the possibility of just the second team in history reaching such a historic total, others grew up Lakers fans and despised the thought of the Celtics coming anywhere near the record, and still others didn't really care. 

No matter what you thought or didn't think about the Celtics' chase for the record, isn't one attempt to make history of that size per season enough?

According to the Houston Rockets, absolutely not.

The Rockets, who are 41-20 so far this season, are riding a 17-game win streak going into tomorrow's game against the Hornets. They already broke their old franchise record of 15 games in a row on Wednesday with a 117-99 win over Indiana. 

Not only is this big because of the number of wins in a row, but also because the last five games have been without their star center, Yao Ming.

With such a long win streak, it may be hard for the Rockets coach, Rick Adelman to keep his players focused on winning each game and not focused on setting records. 

Fortunately for us fans, whether or not Rockets win or lose doesn't depend on us staying focused on each game at a time so let's dive into some speculation.

The Lakers' record was 33 straight wins. Right now Houston has won 17.  In order to break the record Houston needs to get to 34 and must win 17 more. Let's take a look at the next 17 games for the Rockets. 

Sat 08	vs. New Orleans
Mon 10	vs. New Jersey
Wed 12	@ Atlanta
Fri 14	vs. Charlotte
Sun 16	vs. LA Lakers
Tue 18	vs. Boston
Wed 19	@ New Orleans
Fri 21	@ Golden State
Sat 22	@ Phoenix
Mon 24	vs. Sacramento
Wed 26	vs. Minnesota
Sun 30	@ San Antonio
April	Opponent
Tue 01	@ Sacramento
Thu 03	@ Portland
Fri 04	@ Seattle
Sun 06	@ LA Clippers
Wed 09	vs. Seattle

In Houston's next 17 games, it will play seven teams above .500. Ordinarily, this might be a problem, but Houston is 18-8 against these teams, and 9-7 against the teams over .500.

Not only have the Rockets fared favorably against these teams, but if you look at the stats from the last 10 games and compare them to the entire season, there is a drastic increase in the level of play. 

Houston's offense is scoring seven points more per game, its defense is holding teams to three points less, they're averaging three more assists per game, they're out-rebounding the other team by seven per game, and blocking one and a half more shots. 

All in all, they're shooting better, defending better, passing the ball more, and rebounding better.

This team has overcome the loss of its star center, kept winning, and found its groove. 

Watch out '71-'72 Lakers, if the Rockets play their cards right and keep playing the game the way they've been, and keep getting better, we could have a new record holder by the middle of April.