Rockets Drop in Latest Power Rankings by The Athletic

Is it warranted?

Feb 4, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) looks up during the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have shown the propensity to take their foot off the gas when facing teams less talented than them. Monday night's game against the Indiana Pacers was a good example. 

The Pacers, who rank 15th in the Eastern Conference (easily the lesser conference of the two), played a gritty game and forced the Rockets to muck out a hard-fought and hard-earned 118-114 victory. 

The Rockets needed a monster 39-point, 16-rebound performance from standout center Alperen Sengun. 

The game shouldn't have been that close, even without Kevin Durant. 

The Pacers have been without their best player all season in Tyrese Haliburton. 

The game was reminiscent of the Rockets' 110-105 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier in the season, in which Minnesota was playing without Anthony Edwards. 

That game also took a monster 39-point performance from Durant.

Wednesday night's game against the Boston Celtics was the best example of this point. The Celtics decided to rest Jaylen Brown and have been without Jayson Tatum all season.

Yet they demolished the Rockets in the game and flat out decimated Houston in the second half of the game, going on a 15-5 run at the top of the third quarter, surging to a 64-48 lead. Boston raced to a 23-point lead with a little over three minutes remaining in the fourth and never looked back, seizing a 114-93 victory. 

Houston had all three of their stars, in Durant, Sengun and Amen Thompson. 

They played all three on the first night of a back-to-back. 

Heading into the trade deadline, The Athletic's Law Murray ranks Houston fifth-best in the NBA, in the tier of top contenders. 

Murray's synopsis is below:

"Let’s get blasphemous. Houston could trade Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, both out for the season, to a Memphis Grizzlies team that could tank accordingly. I realize this trade would not happen for a variety of reasons (moving on from a culture guy like VanVleet for the wild card that is Morant would be nasty work), but the alternative is doing nothing while the Rockets struggle to run offense in clutch time. The Rockets are a powerful basketball team, but they are as shaky as it gets if they have to play relevant fourth-quarter minutes."

Houston takes the court Thursday against the red-hot Charlotte Hornets, who have won their last seven straight.