How Many wins will it Take for the Rockets to Make the 2024-25 Playoffs?

Rockets will have to improve their win total by at least four wins to have a chance at the playoffs.

Apr 11, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka looks on against the Utah Jazz during the first quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets have moved into phase two of their four-year rebuild after a 41-41 season.

Everyone involved with the Rockets is expecting nothing short of a postseason berth. In the last month of the 2023-24 season, the Rockets pushed the Golden State Warriors for the play-in spot before fading down the stretch.

The Western Conference is the tougher of the two conferences year in and out, and that is expected to be the case next season as well. The last three teams that secured play-in spots were the San Antonio Spurs with 34 wins, the Oklahoma City Thunder with 40 wins and the Golden State Warriors with 46 wins last season.

The Rockets' 41 wins would have put them in at least the Play-In game in 2022 and 2023, but the minimum win threshold seems to be going up every season. How many wins will it take for the Rockets to make at least the play-in next season?

Going into next season, the Rockets are no longer looking for moral victories when it comes to improvement. Gone are the days of being happy with a .500 record and player improvement. Now, the Rockets are ready to take that next step, the playoffs.

How Many Wins do the Rockets have to Improve by Next Season to Have a Chance?

Feb 23, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) reacts after the end of the game against the Phoenix Suns at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

It would be a lot easier if they could make it into the top six and not have to worry about the Play-In, but with how competitive their conference is, it may not be a reality. Last season, Golden State won 46 games and was still only the 10th seed. For the Rockets to even be in the playoff race in the final few weeks of the season, they must win at least 45 games.

Teams like the Lakers and Warriors were fighting to get into the Play-In for most of last season, which means the Rockets will have to leapfrog teams with more playoff and championship experience. Even with the Play-In games added, the road to the Playoffs is still an uphill battle in the Western Conference.

As mentioned earlier, 45 wins seem to be the minimum win total for the Rockets, even to have a chance of playing beyond the regular season for the first time since 2021.

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