Rockets Take Noticeable Leap in Yahoo Sports' Latest Power Rankings

The injury bug has been brutal this season in the NBA. It may have ruined the MVP race between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, depending on how much overall time Jokic is forced to miss.

It’s certainly altered it.

Ditto for the Defensive Player of the Year award, of which Victor Wembanyama should be the runaway favorite.

(As a side note, Wembanyama should be the favorite for that award every year, health permitting).

The Houston Rockets have dealt with the injury bug arguably harder than any other team.

Before the season even started, Houston lost it’s table-setter and floor general, forcing abrupt, last minute strategy changes, especially offensively.

Their big ticket free agency acquisition in Dorian Finney-Smith has just started to find his niche and make an impact, after missing months of action, due to injury.

Yet and still, the Rockets stand fifth in the Western Conference, with two starters in the top ten in total All-Star votes, in Kevin Durant (their blockbuster pickup) and Alperen Sengun.

And according to Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, Houston sits as the league’s third-best team.

Rohrbach explained his calculus.

“What makes the Rockets a contender, even in the absence of their injured veteran point guard, Fred VanVleet, is pretty simple: “When teams double [Alperen Şengün] and Kevin [Durant],.” Yup, those two have been that good, and yup, the Rockets are that deep around them.”

Rohrbach’s quote comes from Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who explained Houston’s “pick your poison” proposition following the Rockets’ 120-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Since then, Sengun went down with an ankle injury, that’s expected to sideline him for upto two weeks potentially.

The good news is that the Rockets have gone 4-1 in the five games that Sengun has missed this season.

All told, Rohrbach has the Rockets as the league’s third-best team, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (who have looked more vulnerable than ever of late) and San Antonio Spurs.

In Rohrbach’s last power rankings, the Rockets ranked sixth.

The Rockets' latest game was a heart breaker against the Portland Trail Blazers, as they came close to pulling off back to back game-winning shots.

Tari Eason grabbed a late offensive rebound and tried his best to get an immediate putback bucket but he was a fraction of a second too late.

Houston faces the Blazers again on Friday and will surely be out for blood, after letting Deni Avdija explode for 41 points.