One Concerning Trend that the Houston Rockets Can't Keep Ignoring

The Houston Rockets have been one of the league's best teams since the All-Star break, posting a 5-2 record during that span. They've also been one of the league's best teams on the year, with a 38-22 record through 60 games.

There's still one major flaw that threatens their chances of winning every night: their fourth quarter collapses, as Law Murray of The Athletic has pointed out.

"It’s a good thing that the Rockets are so good at overpowering most teams, because they still short-circuit a fourth quarter once a week," he called out.

This has become a rather disturbing trend that has spanned all season, regardless of the opponent. We've seen the Rockets blow monumental leads in the final period against non-contending teams.

Let's go down the list. Houston surrendered a 16-point fourth quarter lead to the New Orleans Pelicans and lost in overtime. In Houston's next game, they blew an 18-point fourth quarter lead and lost to the Sacramento Kings in overtime.

The Rockets also held a 14-point fourth quarter lead over the Portland Trail Blazers, even in a back-to-back game on the road and lost 111-105.

Houston also held a nine-point fourth quarter lead over the Philadelphia 76ers and lost in overtime, by a score of 128-122, although the Sixers are much better than the teams listed above, as they currently hold the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference.

Houston's most notorious fourth quarter meltdown came against the New York Knicks, in front of a national audience, as the Rockets landed the prime time slot on ESPN's Saturday NBA coverage. The Rockets held a 16-point lead at the top of the final period and saw it evaporate and materialize into a loss.

So, what exactly is the cause of these fourth quarter flops?

In the Knicks game, it was turnovers (which has plagued the Rockets all season). Houston had nine turnovers in that fourth quarter alone.

Houston also fell flat in their recent loss to the Miami Heat, albeit in a different way. This time, they didn't blow a lead at the end. They were tied 85-85 at the start of the fourth and were outscored 30-20, as a result of God-awful shooting, to the tune of 32.8 percent from the field (9-of-28) and a mere eight percent from deep (1-of-12).

Houston even had six turnovers in the final six minutes of their recent victory over the Washington Wizards, seeing a 96-80 lead evaporate into just a five-point victory.

The Rockets will certainly have to find a way to close games, if they want to have any semblance of a postseason run. The good thing is that it's all relatively fixable and preventable.