Texas Two-Step Offers Ideal Stage for Houston Rockets to Prove Contender Status
The Houston Rockets haven't captured a division title since 1994, but they can make a definitive closing statement and validate their title-contending status during a crucial home-and-home set against the red-hot San Antonio Spurs this week.
Entering Wednesday, Houston holds a one-game edge over the Memphis Grizzlies for the Southwest Division lead and No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, with the Spurs lurking 1.5 games back as the No. 6 seed.
After splitting the first two games of the season series, the division foes will square off in consecutive clashes on Wednesday and Friday that will have far-reaching implications beyond regional bragging rights and playoff seeding.
"We are aware of the standings, but we're not really looking at them," Rockets guard Jason Terry said, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen. "When we did that earlier this year, it bit us in the butt. We dropped games. Now, it's all about winning out. We want to win every single game we play, and then we'll see what will happen."
While the Western Conference is replete with explosive squads of varying shapes and sizes, only the surging Spurs and dominant Golden State Warriors have had their efforts legitimized with a consensus title-contending label.
But based on their previous play without Dwight Howard and the added gumption that they've shown since his return, the Rockets should already figure into that elite equation.
A final flourish against the defending champions figures to be enough to move the needle.
All season long, the Rockets have persevered in the face of strife, quietly maintaining a stronghold on home-court advantage while plotting to pass the Grizzlies for the division's top spot.
Lo and behold, their calculated route to the top has paid dividends, even if it's largely been glossed over while the Warriors have rewritten record books and the Spurs have experienced a second-half resurrection, striking fear into postseason qualifiers across the NBA.
Not only are the Rockets a robust 17-7 since the All-Star break, but they're also one of six teams—along with Golden State, San Antonio, Atlanta, Chicago and Portland—boasting top-12 efficiency ratings on both ends of the floor.
That balance—which makes the Rockets hard to classify in terms of their identity as an offensive or defensive powerhouse, according to Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney—has made them difficult to solve.
"Yet the Rockets elude any such classification," Mahoney wrote. "Technically speaking, they are either, neither and both of the above—at times as stingy of a defense as you'll find in the league and at others as potent an offense. Theirs is an intersectional success."
Of course, such a sentiment runs contrary to the M.O. that Houston used to make back-to-back playoff appearances following a three-year postseason absence. Offense tended to rule the day, with defensive advancements more of a prospective ideal than a concrete reality.
And while the narrative reversal has made it difficult to get a clean read on the Rockets, their newfound stability on defense offers the opportunity for head coach Kevin McHale's bunch to get out of the first round—and then some.
"Houston's power comes from that harmony," Mahoney added in February. "A cohesive game plan executed by a balanced roster (one to be heightened by Howard's eventual return) makes for more than a good offense or a good defense. It's a concert of progressional play—of added value, one into the other."
If that type of tactical equilibrium sounds familiar, that's because it is. The Spurs have mapped out a similar blueprint en route to prosperous results and piles of praise, although their offense assumes a more sophisticated form.
Houston gets busy employing relentless waves of heavy artillery, whereas San Antonio implements a scheme predicated on the finesse of constant kinetic energy, using off-ball cuts, screeners and interior passing to inflict wounds.
| Offensive Rating | 104.0 | 12 |
| 3PA Per Game | 33.1 | 1 |
| 3P% | 34.7% | 15 |
| FTA Per Game | 25.4 | 3 |
| FT% | 71.8% | 28 |
| Paint Points Per Game | 45.1 | 3 |
A lack of aesthetic appeal facilitated by the league's fifth-highest isolation frequency and bouts of stagnancy has been a detriment to Houston's status as a title contender, but the next three days will provide the opportunity to dispel myths of relative inferiority.
With a seismic showing against the Spurs, validation will be in the cards.
But given the tear that San Antonio has been on, Houston will need to summon efforts of tectonic proportions.
Since the start of March, San Antonio has compiled the league's top net efficiency rating by a staggering three points over the Warriors (No. 2 overall in that span). By comparison, the Rockets have operated with a positive net rating, but it's nearly 12 points lower per 100 possessions than San Antonio's.
That's how hot the Spurs have been, and that's what Houston needs to try to conquer in its quest for a championship endorsement.
The good news is that Houston has Howard back healthy, albeit in a limited capacity for the time being. But ever since his return on March 25 against the New Orleans Pelicans, Houston has won all five games that he's appeared in.
One of the major components of that prosperity has to do with Howard's hawking presence in the middle. When he's on the floor, Houston's defense has performed like the league's top unit.
And while San Antonio is currently purveying a defense that's resembled the bowels of Fort Knox, Houston will have the benefit of rest when things get underway Wednesday. With the Spurs hosting on the second night of a grueling back-to-back and the Rockets coming off two days rest, Houston should be refreshed and ready to break through the Spurs' defensive vault.
Echoing Terry's sentiment, Howard reiterated that the team's upcoming stretch will be vital to establishing a rhythm entering the postseason.
"In the last couple of games, we should play as hard as we can and get some great momentum going into the playoffs," Howard said, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jenny Dial Creech. "That is key in these last few games—hitting some things we have to work on. If we can get those things, we should be rolling when we hit the playoffs."
The pieces are in place and the equation for success has been conceived.
Now it's time for the Rockets to crack San Antonio's code and march into the playoffs with a merit badge certifying their contending status.
All statistics are current as of April 7 and courtesy of NBA.com, unless noted otherwise.
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