On Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets won their 50th game of the season. The team has secured a playoff spot and even the division title. Still, with five regular-season games left to play, it’s no time to start dozing off. The Rockets’ five-game closing stretch is going to be one doozy after another.
Rockets To Close 50-Win Season With Brutal 5-Game Stretch
The Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz 143-105 to go 50-27 on the season. It was their second blowout win in three games after a similar drubbing of the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. While blowing out the team whose pick the Rockets have swap-rights for was obviously sweet, this latest win over the Jazz was the icing on the cake. It answered all Houston’s wishes at once: a fifty-win season, a guaranteed play-off berth, and even a win over the eternally-hated Jazz.
But it isn’t happily-ever-after for the Rockets just yet. The last five games of the season will all be against prominent conference rivals. First up is a one-two clash with the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder Friday. The Rockets will be missing key starter Dillon Brooks for that showdown after he picked up his 16th technical foul of the season on Wednesday night.
After that, things will get even more interesting. The Rockets have a healthy lead as the two-seed, but they haven’t secured it yet. Their final four games will feature two possible challengers. They’ll also play against a couple of potential first-round opponents.
The Two-Seed
At 50-27, the Rockets are two games in the loss column ahead of their nearest adversary. That would be the Los Angeles Lakers, whom the Rockets just so happened to lose to on Monday night. The two teams will meet again in Houston’s penultimate game of the season. The matchup will give Houston star Jalen Green the chance to prove LA doesn’t have his number after their last encounter raised his number of crunch-time benchings by one.
As for the Rockets’ final game of the season, that would be against another two-seed contender. The Denver Nuggets are three games behind Houston in the loss column. The Rockets and Nuggets were only scheduled for three games this season, and so far they’ve split the encounters 1-1. A Denver win could help them catch up for a tie and pip the tiebreaker all in one.
It’s possible that both of these storylines will have been neutered by the time the games actually come to be played. But with the Rockets’ daunting closing stretch, jostling for the top spot (or second from top) may continue all the way up to the final whistle of game 82.
Playoff Opponents
The other two opponents the Rockets still have to face this regular season are the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers are currently the seventh seed. The play-in results could complicate things, nevermind the possibility of the Rockets losing the two-seed, but it makes them a feasible first-round opponent for the Rockets. Meanwhile, the Warriors are only one game in the loss column ahead of the Clippers, meaning they could easily wind up in the play-in instead.
Houston’s record against the Warriors this season is not pretty. The Rockets did have one memorable win over the San Franciscans in the NBA Cup Tournament. Overall, though, they are 1-3. They can’t control who comes out of the play-in tournament, but further eroding the mental edge the Warriors have over them could help in a possible seven-game series.
Why The Rockets’ Closing Stretch Could Be Deceiving
There is one caveat to these or indeed any of Houston’s remaining encounters. Head coach Ime Udoka may not wish to show his hand regarding any possible playoff adjustments. With multiple seasons as a Spurs assistant and a Celtics finals run on his resume, Udoka is no stranger to playoff strategizing. Houston will want to win as many of these last five games as they can. They will especially want to win enough of them to ensure holding onto the two-seed. But, they may not pull out all the stops from a strategic perspective. Houston has a young team mostly lacking postseason experience. They need every advantage they can get. Keeping a few extra tricks up their sleeve now may be a sacrifice worth making.
The Last Word
The Rockets have done enough at this point that 2024-25 will have been a huge success no matter what. Even so, the narrative in the offseason will hinge on how they perform in the playoffs. The Rockets’ five-game closing stretch will be a preview of that performance. Many forecasters don’t expect the team to fare well in the more cerebral theatre of playoff basketball. The young Rockets will have to survive this one last brutal stretch and show the league they’re good for more than mere brute strength.
© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The post Rockets To Close 50-Win Season With Brutal 5-Game Stretch appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.