Jan. 12, 2026, 6:22 p.m. CT<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s loss<\/a> at Sacramento was the third straight for the Houston Rockets<\/a> (22-14), who dropped to the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference standings<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the 2025-26 season ended today, that would mean having to advance to the playoffs via the West play-in tournament<\/a>. It\u2019s quite a change from just a few days ago, when the Rockets were in a virtual tie for the No. 3 position<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet, even after that type of deflating week, Houston somehow still owns the second-best point differential (+7.2<\/a>) among all 30 NBA teams.<\/p>\n Via the weekly NBA.com power rankings<\/a>, in which the Rockets fell from No. 5 last week to No. 9 this week, John Schuhmann explains the factors at play:<\/p>\n Amazingly, the Rockets are still in the top eight on both ends of the floor, with\u00a0the league\u2019s second-best per-game point differential<\/a>. Each of their last four losses has been within five points in the last five minutes, and they still have the league\u2019s best record (15-2) in games that\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0within five in the last five.<\/p>\n But the Rockets\u2019 last\u00a0seven\u00a0losses have all come against teams with losing records. The Kings have won just three of their last 16 games and two of those wins came against Houston. The last five games have also been the Rockets\u2019 worst stretch of offense (107.4 points scored per 100 possessions) all season, with players not named Durant or Amen Thompson\u00a0having shot 34%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alperen Sengun missed three of those games before returning to the lineup on Sunday, when his teammates were probably road weary. The Rockets have played the league\u2019s most road-heavy schedule by a wide margin, with only 13 of their 36 games having come at home. They\u2019re still 11-2 at Toyota Center and will now begin their first of two five-game homestands.<\/p>\n Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n Unfortunately, while the Rockets will play a number of home games (a welcome change after their 11-12 record on the road), there is a scheduling complication coming up.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Rockets are 0-3 in the second games of back-to-backs, but they\u2019re the only team that hasn\u2019t played a rest-disadvantage game yet,\u201d Schuhmann writes<\/a>. \u201cTheir first is Friday, the second game of a huge back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> and Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>. They\u2019re currently 5-4 against the six teams ahead of them in the West.\u201d<\/p>\n That could put more pressure on the Rockets to win Tuesday\u2019s homestand opener versus the Chicago Bulls<\/a> (18-20). Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. Central, and the game will televised regionally\u00a0on Space City Home Network (SCHN)<\/a>\u00a0and nationally via\u00a0NBA League Pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tari Eason (right ankle sprain) and Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle injury management) are both listed as out, which means the Rockets likely need Jabari Smith Jr. to snap out of his recent slump<\/a>.<\/p>\n More: Rockets ankle injuries: Alperen Sengun returns, Tari Eason day to day<\/a>