The Rockets Can’t Afford to Take Any Team Lightly as the Regular Season Winds Down

The Houston Rockets have had some bad losses to bad teams this season. The Rockets came into the season as one of the favourites to win an NBA title. The Rockets were coming off a 52-win season, their best since 2020.

That was James Harden's last full season before the Rockets traded away their franchise star and began a complete rebuild. Even though the Rockets fought hard in their seven-game first-round series loss to the Golden State Warriors, they knew that they needed to make a change.

The Rockets did just that by trading for one of the best players of all time in Kevin Durant over the summer. That elevated the Rockets from a feel-good story to a possible championship contender overnight.

Even with the unfortunate injury to their on and off-court leader, Fred VanVleet, before the start of training camp, the Rockets still expected to finish with one of the best records in the NBA.

When you are seen as an elite team in the NBA, you expect to be towards the top of the standings and easily defeat teams that are either dealing with multiple injuries or one of the worst teams in the NBA. That, however, has not always been the case this season.

The Rockets have had multiple head-scratching losses this season against teams that have hovered near the bottom of the standings. The two that stand out the most were both games where the Rockets had a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.

The Rockets lost a game they led by as many as 25 points to the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that has been near the bottom of the standings all season. Then, not too long after, they lost a double-digit lead to the Sacramento Kings, a team that has been fighting with the Pelicans for a spot in the Western Conference basement.

That has been the Rockets for most of the season, usually playing well against some of the best teams in the league and losing more than they should against the teams fighting for a number one pick.

The Rockets Cannot Take the Warriors Lightly in Their Thursday Night Matchup.

The team the Rockets are hosting Thursday night is not fighting for a number one pick, but they do come into the game with several key players on the injury report. The Warriors have been without Steph Curry for the last 11 games and are 4-7 in that time frame.

Even though 4-7 isn’t a great record, they have wins over the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets, two teams currently in the top six of the Western Conference.

The Warriors are also without Jimmy Butler, who is out for the season, and will be without Moses Moody and Will Richard, both of whom are in their regular rotation. Kristaps Porzingis, since being traded to the Warriors, has played only one game and will miss Thursday's game as well.

Even with all the injuries the Warriors are dealing with, the Rockets cannot take them lightly. The Warriors still run the same ball movement and constant player movement offense they have for over a decade, and if the Rockets dont come out with the same intensity as they would if Curry was playing, they could suffer another bad loss.

With as tight as the Western Conference standings are, the Rockets can not afford to take any game off, especially this late in the season.