The Houston Rockets Defense Has Been on Holiday All of December

The Houston Rockets have built an identity over the last few seasons since Ime Udoka took over the franchise in the summer of 2023. The Rockets heading into that offseason were a team without a positive reputation, focused mainly on player development rather than competing for wins night in and night out.

That changed once Udoka became the head coach, as the Rockets wanted to bring toughness and a more defensive-minded approach, which had been lacking for several years before that season. The Rockets knew Udoka was that type of coach and wanted to bring in players that matched his mentality.

The Rockets brought in Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, who both matched Udoka's intensity, especially in Brooks' case, were defensive-first players who played hard every possession. The Rockets went from bottom ten in defense the year before to top 10 in 2023-24 and top five last season.

The Rockets went from a lottery team in 2020 and 2021 to a playoff team on the rise in 2022 and 2023. After the Rockets' loss to the Golden State Warriors, however, they felt they needed help on offense, which led them to bring in one of the best offensive players of all time, Kevin Durant.

When you trade for a talent like Durant, you will have to give up something of value, and the Rockets did just that. The Rockets had to send out both Jalen Green and Brooks to make the trade happen. The Rockets were reluctant to part with a talent like Green, even after his struggles in the playoffs. The same with Brooks, for different reasons, as he had become the Rockets' defensive captain and was one of the team's emotional leaders.

The Rockets wanted to fill the spot left by Brooks immediately, and they signed Dorrian Finney-Smith during free agency and brought in Josh Okogie. It seemed the Rockets were going to pick uppick up right where they left off on the defensive end of the court, as they were one of the top teams thein the first couple of months of the season,, but that has not been the case in December.

The Rockets Defense Has Been on Holiday Break All December

Rockets have gone a disappointing 4-6 in December. The biggest reason has been their defense taking a month-long holiday.

Rankings before December During December

Prior December
2nd defensive rating 23rd 117.8
2nd points allowed 109.9 19th 117.6
5th opponents fg % 45.3 18th 47.8
5th opp ft attempts 22.9 26th 26

The schedule has also played a part in recent struggles, as the Rockets, heading into this six-game road trip, had played the fewest games of any team in the NBA and had multiple games with multiple days off in between. Now the Rockets will not have more than one day off between games until late January.

Every team goes through bad stretches, even the best teams in the league, like Oklahoma City, which started the season off on a historic pace, have stumbled recently. The key for the Rockets is not to let this turn into a month- or two-month-long trend, as each loss sees them fall further and further down the Western Conference standings. To turn around their recent struggles, it has to start and finish on the defensive end of the court.