The good news? The Rockets have treaded so much water lately that continuing to trade water doesn’t make them look any worse in this week’s rankings. The bad news? How about no playoffs? Does that make you feel good? That’s looking like the more and more likely scenario. Here’s what the Power Rankers have to say for themselves:
Pro Basketball Talk: 20 (LW: 20)
Picked up wins in Boston and Atlanta this week, this is a team that can do that — on a hot shooting night they can beat anybody. But defense is what makes a team consistent and the Rockets don’t do a lot of defense.
ESPN: 17 (17)
Road wins of the highest quality, in Boston and Atlanta, only somewhat ease the Rockets’ dismay with themselves, after falling to 0-4 in overtime games and a recent four-game skid in which they led by at least nine in all four.
Hollinger Ratings: 15 (18)
SB Nation: 16 (16)
How snakebitten are the Rockets? Forget the injuries. Houston has actually outscored opponents this season … but sits four games under .500 due to a string of close losses.
Add it all together, and the average of these polls, which last week was 17.75, is now 17. The recent span of close results has continued to make the Rockets look good via Hollinger’s ratings. If they could just win a few of them here and there, perhaps by having a defensive presence in the middle, they’d be playoff bound.