Rockets Rise in The Athletic's Post-All-Star NBA Power Rankings

The Houston Rockets have struggled for the greater part of the season when it comes to showing that they can contend for an NBA championship. That isn't to say they can't make a deep postseason run, but the margin for error in a crowded Western Conference is small. They can't afford to lose home-court advantage as well as momentum heading into the playoffs.

The Rockets finished 2-3 before the All-Star break (since Feb. 4), with an extremely limited offensive output. They struggled to hit shots, averaging 101.6 points per game on 36.8% shooting from the field, the worst ranking in the league across that stretch.

Houston has a lot to fix coming back from rest, but the question is whether or not that's even possible without Fred VanVleet (torn ACL) and Steven Adams (ankle surgery). The organization was one of three across the NBA that did not make a trade leading up to the deadline, so the only hope in terms of adding legitimate talent is to turn to the buyout market.

The future seems a bit bleak right now, and that was slightly reflected as the Rockets were moved down a spot in The Athletic's latest NBA power rankings from Law Murray. After a rough stretch of hoops after the deadline, they're still in the second of five tiers, but they went from seventh in the league to eighth.

Houston is one spot above the Los Angeles Lakers, who begin the third tier, and one spot under the Denver Nuggets. Thankfully, the Lakers and Nuggets have gone 5-5 and 6-4 across their last 10 games, while the Rockets are 6-4, so there wasn't much of a reason to drop them substantially, considering that some of the other playoff teams in the West had underperformed before the break.

Houston is currently sixth in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating. The team's biggest strength from last season has been a focal point as of late, with the Rockets giving up just 105.8 points per game over their last five, the third-best mark in the NBA.

The defense has been impressive, but with Kevin Durant bearing much of the scoring burden, especially in high-pressure moments, Houston needs to drastically improve on the offensive end. The team can't afford to solely rely on the 36-year-old because if he ever goes cold (which is rare, but possible), the shot creation is extremely limited.