Houston Rockets: Review the First Third of the Season

With about one third of the 2024-2025 NBA season in the books, here is how the Houston Rockets have fared in a deep Western Conference.

Dec 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) shoots against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the first half in a semifinal of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada/Pool Photo-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada/Pool Photo-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets entered the 2024-2025 NBA season with high expectations and aspirations on making their first playoff appearance since James Harden's tenure with the organization.

Although it hasn't been perfect, with a 17-9 record one third of the season in, it's safe to say that they have met, if not exceeded those expectations so far.

If you were to look at the Rockets at a surface level, you would probably see a team that's a real threat in the Western Conference with their current standing of third and their record.

However, Houston has been a much more complicated team to look at in the grand scheme of things this season. The highs are great, but the lows are very frustrating, especially for a young team that's very close to being ready for a real playoff push.

Through 26 games, the Rockets hold the second best defensive rating in the NBA, but are just 19th in offensive rating. They have four players in the top 50 in steals per game, with two of them, Alperen Şengün and Tari Eason, being top 50 in blocks per game as well.

Houston also has seven players averaging double-figure points per game, yet just three of them are shooting over 45% from the field.

The Rockets have found a way to stick around near the top of the west, despite having serious problems on the offensive end.

This bodes the question: Can Houston continue to rely on its elite defense to stay in the mix for a top four seed in the west?

The answer: Yes. But can that formula work to win a championship? The last few seasons tell us probably not.

The Rockets could indeed get by as a top-seeded team in the Western Conference playing the brand of basketball they are playing, but will have a rough time getting through the "true contenders" if they can't figure out what to do offensively.

Three of the last four NBA champions were top six in offensive rating, with the one outlier being the Golden State Warriors who had the 17th best offensive rating, coupled with the third best defensive rating, and of course, were led by the greatest shooter of all time Stephen Curry, which goes into one of Houston's biggest problems.

It doesn't have "a guy." It doesn't have the fourth quarter, "go get a bucket" type of player that most championship teams have. The Boston Celtics had Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Denver Nuggets had Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the Warriors had Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and the Milwaukee Bucks had Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

The Rockets haven't found a guy to do that for them just yet. Former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green has been presented the opportunity to be their closer, but hasn't been able to figure it out.

However, once Houston is able to find "that guy," it will become a dangerous team to face in the post-season.

We'll meet back later this season to see if the Rockets really do figure it out.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Rockets on SI Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.