Believe it or not, we are already at the NBA All-Star break. Wednesday’s loss at Memphis marked the last game before the break for the Houston Rockets, so it’s a good time to analyze where the team stands before the final 28 games of the regular season.
Here are five questions on the Rockets going into the last two months of the regular season as Houston attempts to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.
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1. Can the Rockets compete for a playoff spot?
Based on the remaining schedule, there is definitely some hope. Houston enters the break three games behind Golden State for the 10th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, with Utah in between and 1.5 games behind Golden State.
Looking at the rest of the season, the Rockets have a friendly schedule, with seven games against teams that are among the five worst in the NBA (3 against Portland, 2 against Washington, 2 against San Antonio). Houston also doesn’t have to play Denver, Boston or Milwaukee, and has just one more road game against an Eastern Conference opponent (at Washington on March 19), so there won’t be any more long and tiring Eastern road trips to deal with.
The bad news is that Houston does have to play six games against the top three teams in the West (3 against Oklahoma City, 2 against the Clippers and 1 against Minnesota). But overall, it could be worse and there is an opportunity to gain some ground. The most critical games might be the two against Utah on March 23 and March 29.
2. What injuries are there to be concerned about?
Cam Whitmore (ankle), Fred VanVleet (groin) and Tari Eason (lower leg) all missed Wednesday night’s game against Memphis, and it’s uncertain when they can return after the break. Obviously, the sooner that trio gets back the better, because that was nearly 40 combined points per game that was out of the lineup. VanVleet also leads the team in assists, Eason is the team’s third-leading rebounder and second-leading shot blocker.
3. Do the Rockets have a budding star in Alperen Sengun?
It sure appears that way. In fact, one can argue he’s already a star, not budding. The 21-year old Sengun has been the team’s MVP this year, leading the Rockets in scoring (21.2 ppg.) and rebounding (9.1 rpg.).
On his podcast in January, former NBA player and current analyst JJ Redick said that Sengun is going to make “8-9″ All-Star games and that he can be an MVP candidate yearly. The 6-foot-11 Sengun has upped his scoring average per game by nearly seven points from last season.
4. What will happen with Jalen Green?
Jalen Green is at a fork in the road early in his NBA career. Green, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, has shown at times he can be a franchise player. Case in point was on Feb. 10 at Atlanta, when he had his first career triple-double (26 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists).
But there have also been games where he has virtually disappeared (namely scoring 7 points on Feb. 9 against Toronto and 4 points on Wednesday at Memphis), further frustrating the organization with his inconsistency.
This will be a pivotal two months for Green and the organization since Green is eligible for a contract extension in the offseason (as is Sengun) after he completes three years in the league (his rookie contract is for four years). If Green can have a monster final 28 games and help lead the Rockets to the playoffs, the organization will have reason to reward him and there’ll be proof another franchise cornerstone is in place. If Green’s inconsistency continues, his time in Houston might be shorter than desired.
5. Should the Rockets have been more active at the trade deadline?
That question won’t be answered until April, but there was some understandable frustration from fans. Other than swinging a trade for Memphis center Steven Adams, who is out for this year with a knee injury but should benefit the Rockets in the long term, the Rockets stood pat.
General manager Rafael Stone was content with what Houston did, but opportunities to enhance the team’s offense that has struggled in road games (25th in offensive rating on the road since start of January) and perimeter defense might have been missed.