At 13-4, the Houston Rockets have played the fewest games of any team in the NBA, but aside from the Oklahoma City Thunder, perhaps they’ve shown the most.
After a 129-101 win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the Rockets are rolling once again with the second-best offensive (122.3) and defensive (110.3) ratings in the league. They’re not only putting up elite offensive numbers with the addition of Kevin Durant, but they’re continuing to stop opponents on the other end with the same tantalizing defense that led them to 52 wins last season.
But the most impressive stretch came without their star scorer. Houston took on the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors with Durant, yet the team still pulled off back-to-back road wins. The victory in Phoenix came on the back of Amen Thompson, who led the Rockets to win by a 22-point margin.
In San Francisco, it was Reed Sheppard who stepped with a career-high 31 points, while both teams struggled to score. The Rockets have not only gotten great production from starters, but bench players such as Sheppard, Aaron Holiday and Josh Okogie (on certain nights) have propelled them in a season without Fred VanVleet (torn ACL), their veteran floor general.
Such two-way prowess has resulted in Houston jumping to No. 2 in NBC Sports’ latest NBA power rankings. While there are questions about whether or not any team can compete with the 20-1 Thunder, Kurt Helin has the Rockets as the next team up.
“Reed Shepard got off to a slower than hoped for start this season, but he seems to have found a comfort level,” Helin wrote. “The second-year point guard is averaging 16.8 points a game while shooting 46.3% from beyond the arc across his last 10 games, giving the Rockets a little stability at the point.
“Another positive sign: The Rockets picked up wins last week against good teams in Golden State and Phoenix without Kevin Durant.”
The Rockets have a long way to go before the playoffs, and Oklahoma City appears to be in a tier of its own as it seems on track to set the league’s all-time wins record. However, the third seed in a crowded Western Conference (behind the 15-4 Los Angeles Lakers) is a great start. Houston had plenty of questions coming into the regular season, but has silenced many doubters 17 games in.