The Rockets have Been a Completely Different Team Away from the Toyota Center

The Houston Rockets are currently riding a six game winning streak, which is great timing, as the 2025-26 regular season is winding down. The Rockets, who have been a wildly inconsistent ball club throughout the season, are starting to round into shape, heading into the postseason.

Which is exactly when you want the team to catch fire and get hot. It's also the perfect time to get fully healthy, which has been a major issue for the Rockets this season.

Unfortunately for Houston, they won't be getting fully healthy, as Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams will be out for the remainder of the season, due to season-ending injuries suffered earlier in the season. In VanVleet's case, before the season even started.

The Rockets are currently 49-29 and fifth in the Western Conference. The Rockets have an opportunity to either meet or surpass last year's 52-win mark, which would be especially impressive, considering the aforementioned injuries that they've been hampered by.

But they've been an entirely different ball club when playing at the Toyota Center at home in comparison to on the road away from Houston. The Rockets are 28-10 when playing in the Toyota Center this season, versus 21-19 when playing on the road.

The Rockets' brain trust believes there's a specific reason for the team's road woes. USA Today's Ben Dubose explained, sharing a conversation with an internal team source.

"I was talking to someone inside the building a couple of days ago and I asked, how much of these home versus road splits are random. And the response I got, I'm going to read it verbatim.

'Not sure it's random for young guys, in particular. Role players and young players are often much more comfortable at home, especially in the playoffs.'"

One player who has encapsulated this is Rockets reserve guard Reed Sheppard. At home, Sheppard averages 14.1 points, 45.2 percent from the field, 43.4 percent from deep and 59.8 percent true shooting.

Away from the Toyota Center, Sheppard's scoring average is nearly the same, at 13.2 points, however, he shoots 41.2 percent from the field, 36 percent from deep and 53.7 percent true shooting. Another example is Tari Eason, especially from an efficiency standpoint.

Eason averages 41.6 percent from the field at home, 38.3 percent from deep, 82.8 percent from the foul line and 51.8 percent true shooting. On the road, he fares 40.5 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from deep, 67.7 percent from the foul line and 50.1 percent true shooting -- almost two percentage points lower.

The conversation matters because the Rockets are almost locked into the fifth seed, meaning they'd be playing a Game 1 and Game 7 away from the Toyota Center.But there's still a handful of games remaining in the regular season, meaning Houston could technically still rise in the standings.