52 wins, second best record in the loaded West, no chance?
Last night, the Houston Rockets were watching with the rest of us to see who they would face in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, for the first time in four years. Many in the media seemed to believe it is predetermined that they will be facing the Golden State Warriors, a familiar foe that haunts Rockets fans dreams. Turns out they were right.
The media in large part has written off the Rockets as a cute story of a young, up-and-coming team that should be happy to have made the playoffs, but are giving them no shot at a deep run. This in spite of the fact that the Rockets finished second in the Western Conference, a positon where they resided for most of the season.
The “why” they are being overlooked is obvious. The Rockets do not have the playoff experience that these other teams have. In turn, they obviously have not had the success that the Warriors have had over the past decade. But is it that simple? Are the Rockets too young, too inexperienced, and therefore incapable of a deep playoff run? Let the talking-heads and sports debaters of ESPN tell it, if they even mention the Rockets, and that’s the story. Open and shut. And that is the exact way the Rockets like it.
Rockets sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson was a guest recently on “The Herd” on Fox Sports 1 in Los Angeles and guest host Jason McIntyre asked her bout the Rockets being overlooked.
They are flying under the radar, but they like that. They are fine with not getting a ton of press and not getting a ton of attention… Fred (VanVleet) has told the guys, you don’t want all the TV appearances, all the articles, all the press releases… We are fine flying underneath the radar and then surprising people.
Fred VanVleet knows all about being overlooked. Not many had his 2019 Raptors team besting the Warriors featuring Steph, Klay, Draymond, and KD.
As for the Rockets, Dillon Brooks has playoff experience, but has never been to the Western Conference Finals. Veterans Jeff Green, Steven Adams, Aaron Holiday, and Jock Landale are the only other players on the roster other than VanVleet with playoff experience. While most see this as a disadvantage for the Rockets, I see a young team who has nothing to lose if they just go out and play their game.
Ime Udoka’s personality has permeated this team and will have them prepared as much as possible without many of them them experiencing first-hand the intensity of the playoffs. Houston will not be intimidated as they demonstrated in their last regular season meeting with the Warriors. The Rockets have been consistently great on defense all season long, and that travels. Will they have playoff success? That is yet to be determined, but one thing that is for certain is that the Rockets have been defying the odds all season, so I won’t be betting against them in the postseason.
The young Rockets might know that they are playing with house money, but they are coming to win. However despite winning 52 games, having beaten all of the best teams in the league convincingly, and registering the second best record in the deep Western Conference, are a +7500 to win the title, according to FanDuel sportsbook. That means that the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Indiana Pacers all have better odds than the Rockets.
Given that the Rockets were among the best teams in the league in clutch games with a 13-8 record, 11-6 record in one possession games, with a tough as nails vets, an even tougher coach, and a group of young stars who have been waiting for this moment all their lives… I like those odds. Why not the Rockets?