{"id":517227,"date":"2026-01-05T02:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T02:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/517227\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T02:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T02:05:17","slug":"grab-it-tim-macmahon-urges-rockets-to-capitalize-on-nikola-jokics-unfortunate-setback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/517227\/","title":{"rendered":"“Grab it” – Tim MacMahon urges Rockets to capitalize on Nikola Jokic\u2019s “unfortunate” setback"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Nikola Jokic injured his left knee against the Miami Heat, many focused on what the Denver Nuggets<\/a> lost. Yet from this unfortunate injury, other NBA teams, especially those in the Western Conference, also gained something: an opportunity to rise in the rankings.<\/p>\n

And ESPN\u2019s Tim MacMahon<\/a> believes the Houston Rockets<\/a> should waste no time in grabbing it.<\/p>\n

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With Jokic<\/a> out for almost all of January, the Nuggets are now down four starters. They also recently lost their backup center, Jonas Valanciunas, who went down with a calf injury.<\/p>\n

The Rockets are now tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the fourth-best record at 21-11. Meanwhile, the Nuggets remain a spot above them with a 23-11 slate. If the Rockets play their cards right, MacMahon is confident that they can claim Denver\u2019s spot and pose a serious threat to the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the Nuggets are probably going to sink over the next month while Joker is out,\u201d he said on the \u201cHowdy Partners\u201d podcast. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance for the Rockets to get up in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rockets are in good shape<\/p>\n

With their star-studded lineup, the Rockets were able to live up to the billing, securing a comfortable spot in the top five of the conference throughout the season.<\/p>\n

At 37 years old, Kevin Durant <\/a>is leading the team in scoring with 25.4 points on 52.2 percent shooting. Meanwhile, Houston\u2019s young star, Alperen Sengun<\/a>, is doing everything on the floor, averaging 22.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists.<\/p>\n

Their younger role players, Jabari Smith and Amen Thompson, also contribute solid numbers as part of the starting unit, while Reed Sheppard leads the bench with 13.3 points per game.<\/p>\n

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Houston has the third-best offensive rating<\/a> and sixth-best defensive rating<\/a> in the league. It\u2019s also the top-rebounding team with 48.8 boards per game.<\/p>\n

According to McMahon, the team has the second-most 20-point victories, behind only the Thunder. Per StatMuse<\/a>, the former has nine, while the latter has 13. For MacMahon, the success of other teams, like the Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs, overshadowed the Rockets\u2019 quiet consistency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re in pretty good shape,\u201d the analyst explained. \u201cThe Spurs have earned more of the spotlight. Joker was having the best year of his career before he went down\u2026But they\u2019re still right there as one of the primary challengers to OKC.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What Houston needs to fix<\/p>\n

MacMahon pointed out two key problems Houston needs to solve to capitalize on Denver\u2019s situation: closing out in the clutch and minimizing their turnovers.<\/p>\n

The Rockets tend to falter in close situations. According to NBA stats, the team is 22nd<\/a> in the league in clutch win percentage at 40 percent (6-9 win-loss record). They are also 1-4<\/a> in games that go into extra periods.<\/p>\n

It is interesting how Houston still has this problem despite having one of the best closers of all time in the Slim Reaper. Head coach Ime Udoka needs to figure out how to use Durant properly in these situations.<\/p>\n

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MacMahon also said this is where they missed the veteran ball handling and playmaking of point guard Fred VanVleet, who is recovering from an ACL injury. They need a traditional point guard who can set the play within half-court. Sengun\u2019s facilitation is not enough.<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s lack of a floor general has led to its second biggest problem: ball security. They are averaging the third-most<\/a> turnovers in the league with 16.2 per game. MacMahon said this weakens their ability to stay true to their defensive identity.<\/p>\n

Houston needs to address these issues to maximize the benefits of Denver\u2019s advantageous position. If they do, once Jokic and the Nuggets become complete again, they will be facing a different and more fearsome Rockets squad that can rival OKC and San Antonio.<\/p>\n

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Related: Nikola Jokic’s injury update could shape the rest of the 2025\/26 season<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jan 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Nikola Jokic injured his left knee against the Miami Heat, many focused on what the Denver Nuggets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[1307,883,7,187,866,292,194,4066,1346,938,150,189,6,253,179,1081,211,969,474,4136,574],"class_list":["post-517227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-rockets","tag-alperen-sengun","tag-amen-thompson","tag-basketball","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-houston","tag-houston-rockets","tag-houstonrockets","tag-jabari-smith","tag-kevin-durant","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-miami-heat","tag-nba","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-reed-sheppard","tag-rockets","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-tim-macmahon","tag-western-conference"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115840045796632938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}