A Slip-Up Could Sink Houston's Second Seed Aspirations

The Houston Rockets were in a freefall in the Western Conference standings leading into the All-Star Break. They'll look to bounce back as they enter the season's final weeks. The Rockets have a long way to go before they are back to competing for the No. 2 seed, and they have to start their climb back as soon as they return from break.

Houston is two games behind the Denver Nuggets for the No. 3 seed. The Nuggets are picking up steam in the standings and have the tools to contend for the second seed. Denver is on an eight-game winning streak and they are just a half-game back from tying the Memphis Grizzlies. They might have a chance to overtake the Grizzlies during their next game against the Charlotte Hornets. They'll then host the Los Angeles Lakers as Nikola Jokic invites Luka Doncic and his new team into Denver.

The Nuggets follow their game against the Lakers with a tough stretch of opponents. They'll take on five games in a row against teams with winning records before facing a difficult Phoenix Suns team. They'll follow that stretch with two straight against the Oklahoma City Thunder, then a match against the Minnesota Timberwolves before another game with the Lakers.

The Grizzlies are coming off a defeat and will face some of the top teams in the East throughout the end of February.

Memphis is trying to stave off the Nuggets from taking the No. 2 seed to give the team home-court advantage in at least the postseason's first two rounds. The Grizzlies are trying to make the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2013, and getting home-court advantage could go a long way toward making that a reality.

The Rockets are the main competitors against the Grizzlies and the Nuggets for the No. 2 seed. The Lakers lurk just a half-game behind Houston, creating little room for error for Houston.

The Rockets' upcoming schedule has several challenges. They start with a tough game at home against Minnesota as they try to redeem themselves from a difficult loss near the start of the month. Four of their following five games are against teams with winning records including the Thunder.

Keeping pace for the No. 2 seed will prove a difficult task, and a misstep could result in the Lakers overtaking Houston for the fourth seed.

The Rockets can't afford a major skid in the standings, either. Minnesota is just 3.5 games behind in the standings, making any significant losing streak for Houston a dangerous proposition. It's not likely, but a tumble into the play-in would be a disappointing outcome for a team that displayed so much promise and progress just a few weeks ago.

Several things have to go right for the Rockets to finish the season in the No. 2 seed. Houston has to prevent several things from going wrong to avoid Play-In seeding, and they are still looking for another gear to create some separation and climb back up the standings.

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