Rockets Rise in Power Rankings Despite Snapping Win Streak

The Houston Rockets are moving up in NBA.com's latest power rankings.

Mar 23, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) looks to pass the ball during the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets saw their nine-game win streak go up in smoke as they lost to the Denver Nuggets 116-111 at home.

Nikola Jokic was on the sidelines for the Nuggets with an ankle injury as Jamal Murray put his team on his back to lead them to victory.

Even though the Rockets lost, they still moved up two spots in NBA.com writer John Schuhmann's power rankings.

"The Rockets went undefeated on a stretch of nine straight games against teams with losing records before losing to the Jokić-less Nuggets on Sunday," Schuhmann writes.

"The Rockets have four games remaining against teams that currently have losing records, and three of them are this week. They’re 27-8 against that group thus far, with the most recent of those losses having come (just after the All-Star break) in Utah, where they’ll begin a three-game trip on Thursday."

The teams that ranked ahead of the Rockets are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Rockets have 10 games left in the regular season with a one-game lead for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Houston will have to win as many of those games as possible in order to secure homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

The Rockets are back in action this week beginning with a game hosting the Atlanta Hawks before starting a west coast road trip against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.