Rockets on Fire: 10 Consecutive wins propel team towards Play-In Tournament

HOUSTON – Entering the month of March, the Rockets held a 25-34 record and were comfortably absent from playoff conversations in the competitive Western Conference. Roughly 30 days later, the squad sits at 37-35, having won 10 straight games and 12 of their last 13.

Over that stretch, the Rockets have won in several different ways. They fought through adversity on the road against projected playoff teams like Cleveland and Sacramento and avoided upsets at home against struggling squads like Portland and Utah. In their most recent matchup, the Rockets held a fierce Oklahoma City squad to just 14 points in the fourth quarter in a strong overtime victory.

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The biggest headline throughout this recent tear has been the emergence of Jalen Green. After losing star center Alperen Sengun to a knee injury in the win over the Kings on March 10, Green was asked to take a more active role in leading the Houston offense. In the most demanding stretch of his career thus far, the young guard has delivered. He has produced some of the most electric highlights across the entire league, proving that he is a scoring threat from anywhere on the floor.

Green had struggled to put together efficient shooting performances consistently for much of the season, but the former No. 2 overall draft pick has put together a stretch of explosive outings. He has been Houston’s leading scorer in nine of the Rockets’ 13 games in the month of March, including games with 37, 41 and 42 points.

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With 10 games remaining, the Rockets sit at 11th place in the West, one spot away from the Play-In Tournament. They sit just one game behind Golden State, who boasts a 38-34 record.

Houston will need to keep its foot on the gas over this final two-week stretch of the season. Their schedule features several tough matchups, including road games against Dallas and Minnesota, and a pivotal matchup hosting Golden State on April 4.

This would be the Rockets first playoff appearance in the last four seasons, and the first in the tenure of first-year coach Ime Udoka.