Is the Houston Rockets' Season Over?

The Rockets are currently sitting one game above .500, 31-30, and are four-and-a-half games out of the playoff picture.  Not only does their current position look bleak, but they also have shown a complete lack of ability to consistently win since the losses of Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry.

In fact, they have not put together a winning streak of more than two games in 2010, a sad fact for a team that was so energized with the additions of Kevin Martin and others.

With all that in mind, do the Rockets have a chance to make the playoffs?

While attempting not to sound like a complete homer, I must say the Rockets do have a chance at knocking Portland or San Antonio out of the playoff picture. 

However, that chance gets smaller and smaller with the number of games that Kyle Lowry misses.  Lowry is one of the most important players for the Rockets because he is the perfect foil to Aaron Brooks.  If Brooks is having trouble marking a tough point guard, Lowry can enter and lock that player down quickly.

But if Brooks is playing well, the two play together perfectly.  Lowry takes the role of distributor on offense while Brooks can shoot like there's no tomorrow.  And on defense, Lowry has the toughness to slow down opposing 2 guards despite his height advantage.

There is a reason that Lowry is in each of the Rockets top +/- lineups and has the best +/- rating on the team.  While I don't necessarily hold this viewpoint, you could very easily argue that Lowry is a better starter for the Rockets than Brooks at this point.

Additionally, with Ariza returning, the Rockets get another top-notch wing defender that they have craved since Ariza has been out.  With Battier playing more minutes at power forward, the Rockets have had trouble defending opposing wing players without another good wing defender off the bench.

Inserting Ariza back into the rotation will allow the Rockets to keep one good defender on the floor at all times, stopping opposing teams from taking advantage of Kevin Martin's shortcomings.

While the Rockets appear to be close to getting reinforcements, the Spurs are moving the other way injury wise.  They just lost Tony Parker for possibly the rest of the regular season and Antonio McDyess has been fighting knee soreness, which is never a good sign for a 35-year-old big man.

Standing just one spot out of the playoffs, the Rockets are not done just yet. The odds are long and they will need to make a run or hope for an absolute collapse from either San Antonio or Portland.  But if anyone can do it, it will be the Clutch City Rockets.