R-E-S-P-E-C-T the Houston Rockets

“I think the intensity from the beginning of the first quarter was there. Our overall concentration was there. We knew what we needed to do, and it helps when our shots are falling as well.”

The intensity has not only been there one game and not there the others, over the last 21 games, it has been there every single night.

The Houston Rockets have won 21 straight games, and are on a 30-2 stretch as a whole.

"They can call us the worst team to win 21 games in a row, but they can never take that away from us."

The Rockets play with a chip on their shoulder.  When Yao Ming went down for the season, the win streak was going to end after an impressive, but not great, run.

Dikembe Mutombo came in an showed that you should never forget the value of the blocked shot, as he has been waving that finger very often over the last few games.

"We're in a war now."

The Rockets are playing with a bulls-eye on their back.  Everybody wants to be the one to stop the second longest win streak in NBA history.

Today they play the Lakers for Western Conference supremacy.  The two teams are currently tied for first place and home-court advantage in the playoffs.

"They don't play teams with a full roster."

They've played a Caron Butler-less Wizards team, a David West-less Hornets team, along with multiple other teams that didn't have an important part to their roster.

But to those who say that they don't play full teams, what about the fact that they are playing without Yao Ming, arguably the best player on the team.

"The streak is bound to end soon."

We'll find out just how good the Rockets are over the next stretch that they have to face.

Through the end of the month, the Rockets play the Lakers, Celtics, Hornets, Warriors, Suns, and Spurs.

If they make it through that stretch undefeated, we could be looking at one of the greatest basketball teams of all time.

The all-time mark for longest winning streak is 33 wins by the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Rockets will be hard pressed to make it to that level, but look for them to make some deafening noise.