The Houston Rockets have played three games since the All-Star break, and no progress has been made in efforts to get into playoff position in the Western Conference.
On the contrary, the Rockets have actually lost ground, now 4.5 games back of Golden State for the 10th and final spot as of today after being three games behind going into the break.
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Utah is in between Houston and Golden State in 11th place, three games behind Golden State.
There have been several factors why the Rockets would be missing out on the postseason for a fourth straight year if the season ended today. But one statistic in particular seems glaring: Houston’s road record.
The Rockets are 5-22 on the road this season going into Monday, the second-worst away record in the NBA, ahead of only the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Houston has lost seven straight road games, with its last win away from Toyota Center being on Jan. 26 at Charlotte.
Compare that to Houston’s home record, which is 20-10. The Rockets as of now are one of only eight teams in the NBA to have 20 or more wins on their home court this year.
While it’s obviously not abnormal for teams to play better and produce better stats at home compared to road games, it seems to be more of a contrast for the Rockets. Here are some notable home/road splits for the Rockets:
- Houston is averaging more than four points fewer in road games than at home and have scored 343 less points overall in road games.
- The Rockets are averaging 1.5 more turnovers per game on road than at Toyota Center.
- Houston is averaging 11.2 made 3-pointers on the road compared to 12.9 shots from 3-point range made at home.
- The Rockets have 62 less assists and 15 more turnovers in road games than at home.
All the above might not seem like huge numbers on the surface. But professional sports usually have razor thin margins for errors when it comes to wins and losses, and stats like that have obviously contributed to Houston’s lowly road record.
It’s normal for a young team to feed off the energy of a home crowd and be a bit more intimidated by other crowds on the road. But if Houston wants to get into the playoff mix, it will need to fix its road woes and fast.
The next three games for the Rockets are away from Toyota Center, at Oklahoma City on Tuesday before back-to-back games at Phoenix on Thursday and Saturday.
This week would be a good time for the Rockets to turn their woes on the road around, or else talk will shift from playoff contention to the draft lottery real quickly.