Updated Feb. 20, 2026, 12:00 p.m. CT<\/p>\n
Between an inactive trade deadline<\/a> and a controversy over alleged social media \u201cburner\u201d comments (possibly by Kevin Durant<\/a>), the Houston Rockets<\/a> haven\u2019t had ideal publicity over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n Yet, on the floor, the results are showing clear signs of improvement.<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s victory<\/a> at Charlotte, coupled with Denver\u2019s loss later that night to the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>, launched Houston (34-20) into the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference standings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dating back to Jan. 16, the Rockets are 11-5 (.688) in their last 16 games. Among West rivals, only the second-seeded Spurs (11-3, .786) have been better over that span<\/a>, and one of those three losses was to Houston<\/a>.<\/p>\n Better yet, for the remainder of the 2025-26 regular season, Houston currently projects to have the weakest remaining schedule<\/a> among the West\u2019s top eight teams.<\/p>\n Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n That\u2019s the good news for the Rockets. The bad news is that their margin of error remains quite small.<\/p>\n Though they have climbed to No. 3, the Rockets remain 4.5 games back of San Antonio (39-16) for the No. 2 spot, and three teams \u2014 the No. 4 Nuggets (35-21), the No. 5 Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> (33-21), and No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> (34-22) \u2014 are hot on Houston\u2019s heels.<\/p>\n In other words, climbing higher than No. 3 is a heavy lift, and it wouldn\u2019t take much for the Rockets to fall back to between No. 4 and No. 6.<\/p>\n But regardless, the Rockets are playing much better basketball, and that\u2019s welcome news after a stretch from Dec. 1 through Jan. 15 in which Houston went just 10-11 (.476). Dating back to Dec. 15, Friday is only the third day in which the Rockets have woken up in the West\u2019s top three<\/a>.<\/p>\n Down the road, a top-three finish in the regular season could be critical, since that will likely be on the opposite side of the 2026 playoff bracket<\/a> from the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> (who, at 42-14, continue to rank atop the West).<\/p>\n Led by Durant, a perennial All-Star, the Rockets will look to build on their recent momentum when they travel to New York\u2019s famed Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Tipoff versus the Knicks (35-21) is at 7:30 p.m. Central, and the game will be broadcast to a national audience on ABC.<\/p>\n