Houston Rockets: Power Ranking Potential Playoff Opponents
By Jake Lapin
Things are looking pretty good right now for the Houston Rockets. The one seed is locked up. As is home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The best record in the NBA is probably not too far behind. Chris Paul and James Harden can continue to rest or play at their leisure. But, it really doesn’t matter!
What does matter is the playoffs are just around the corner. Let’s be honest here: all Houston Rockets fans sick of narratives of the past. Sick of the “Harden-can’t-do-it-in-the-playoffs” narrative. Sick of the “Chris-Paul-can’t-make-a-conference-final” jokes.
This team has done everything it could possibly do up to this point. It will likely finish the season in the top one percent or so of NBA records all-time. That’s incredible. But, here’s where it counts. The overblown narratives and sickeningly frequent illusions to Game 6 last year can be washed away forever.
With two weeks and change to go in the season, here’s how the standings look:
Ailing Golden State is a virtual lock for number two. The Trail Blazers have separated themselves a bit from the pack at number three. After that, absolute chaos.
There is a logjam for spots 4 through 8. The Thunder, Pelicans, Spurs, Wolves and Jazz are continuously shuffling everyday. The Clippers and Nuggets have both hit rough patches, but they are still in the conversation.
Let’s take a look at the ideal matchups out west for the Houston Rockets to get to the NBA Finals. Here’s a ranking of who the Rockets would most like to see starting mid-April.