Rockets Among Top Playoff Contenders

The Houston Rockets were one of just four teams to win 52 games or more during the regular season.

That's why The Athletic insider Law Murray has the Rockets at No. 5 in his power rankings, placing him in the team's "top contender" tier.

"It’s not going to get as much reaction because it took Ime Udoka two years to turn this franchise around, but it’s nothing short of remarkable that the Rockets have home-court advantage through the semifinals after losing 60 games in 2022-23," Murray writes.

"The Rockets won 15 of their last 20 games, and they had a top-10 offense over the last five weeks. All-Star center Alperen Şengün led Houston’s strength by averaging 3.9 offensive rebounds per game in that stretch. Now their challenge is to see how well they can compete with so many players about to make their postseason debuts against teams that have gone on deep playoff runs recently."

The other teams in that top contender tier with the Rockets are the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Rockets may not have been expected to be this high in the NBA's hierarchy at the beginning of the season, but the team is there now, and that makes them as dangerous as anybody going into the postseason.

The Rockets will begin their first playoff run in five years when they welcome their hometown fans to Toyota Center on Easter Sunday for Game 1 of their opening round postseason series.