Rockets Postseason Berth is a Major Feat, Considering the Obstacles This Year

The 2025-26 NBA season is nearing a close, which is crazy to type. It feels like the season just started.

Time flies when you’re having fun. Or at least that’s what they say.

For a Houston Rockets standpoint, the season hasn’t been entirely fun. There have been some very good games. Tightly-contested, even.

But those games haven’t gone in the Rockets’ favor. In fact, the Rockets are 1-7 in games that have gone to overtime this season. Two of those losses came against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings.

But through it all, the Rockets have clinched a postseason berth, as the team pulled off the feat on Thursday night, even though they had the night off.

The Phoenix Suns’ loss to the Charlotte Hornets sealed the deal for the Rockets’ postseason berth. The Suns lost 127-107, in a game that saw Kon Knueppel set the Hornets’ record for 3-point field goals in a single season, surpassing Kemba Walker’s previous mark.

The Rockets currently hold the fifth seed in the Western Conference, with a 47-29 record. Houston is one game back from the fourth-seeded Denver Nuggets and one game over the Minnesota Timberwolves, who hold the sixth seed. If the postseason started today, Houston would face the Denver Nuggets, which doesn’t seem to be the best matchup, but anything can happen.

With six games remaining, as of this writing, the Rockets will not fall below sixth in the conference, meaning they will be able to avoid the play-in tournament. Not that it was ever really in question, based on how Houston has played throughout the season, but it’s a good bit of reassurance.

Especially for a ball club that’s been relatively banged up throughout the season. Speaking of which, the Rockets will get an extra week of recovery, from their final regular season game against the Timberwolves next Saturday to the start of the postseason the following week.

This makes Houston’s second postseason berth in as many years. However, last season’s team had seemingly much more depth. This team has had to deal with considerably more adversity, especially considering the injuries the Rockets have faced.

They’ve been without their leader and floor general in Fred VanVleet, who made things much easier, not just from a playmaking standpoint. VanVleet galvanized the troops and was the team’s vocal leader, which isn’t something the Rockets have been able to replace, based on their other personalities on the roster.

And the mathematical formula is no longer in their favor offensively, with Steven Adams having been out since February. Adams was the key cog in Houston’s offense, which ranked first in offensive efficiency, earlier in the season, due to second chance scoring opportunities and high-percentage putbacks.

In many ways, the Rockets have been carried by Kevin Durant, who has played the third-most minutes in the league and has missed just three games, even at the age of 37.