For the first time in five years, the City of Houston will have postseason basketball!
On Wednesday, March 19, the Houston Rockets visited the Orlando Magic in a cross-conference matchup. After reaching a double-digit lead in the second half, the Rockets held off a late comeback and left the arena with a 116-108 win.
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The win—which was Houston’s eighth straight victory—brought the Rockets to a 45-25 record, which was good enough to clinch a playoff spot in the competitive Western Conference. The Rockets will play postseason basketball for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
Back to postseason basketball 🚀 pic.twitter.com/e5AQifA3aA
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 20, 2025
The Rockets currently sit at second place in the conference, but in a league full of competitive teams, that spot is far from secure. The team has just five more wins than the Minnesota Timberwolves, who currently occupy the eighth spot with a 40-31 record. The Rockets still have more work to do if they want to avoid the dreaded 7-10 seeds that have to survive the Play-In Tournament, but they certainly seem to be trending that way.
Even so, the rapid ascension of this Houston squad in the Ime Udoka era is nothing short of remarkable. After Mike D’Antoni’s departure in 2020, the team won between 17 and 22 games across each of the next three seasons, prompting the firing of coach Stephen Silas.
In Udoka’s first year at the helm, the team went 41-41 and narrowly missed the Play-In. In year two, the Rockets have already surpassed that win total in mid-March.
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