Tom Ziller of SB Nation has released his lateest weekly NBA Power Rankings, and though the Houston Rockets went just 2-2 in their four outings last week, the've ascended Ziller's rankings into the Top 15. Let's take a quick look at where the Rockets were placed this week, as well as Ziller's explanation for bumping them up from their previous slot of No. 16.
↵↵↵14. Houston Rockets (21-25, Prev: #16) -- Houston continues to rely on massive scoring output from Kevin Martin and Luis Scola to compete. The Rockets are in a tough spot. With so many free agents (Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks, Chuck Hayes, Yao Ming and others), it's hard to put off the retooling until summer. But at the same time, with so many free agents, the team will have trouble rebuilding the team now without knowing what kind of market there will be for the free agent Rockets. At least we know GM Daryl Morey won't be sitting on his hands.
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The Rockets got their week off to a nice start on Monday evening with a 129-125 road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Houston next takes the court on Wednesday night at the Toyota Center against a Clippers team that like Houston, is trying to claw back into contention following a rough start to the year.
↵Here are your updated Western Conference standings heading into Tuesday, January 25th's games:
↵Team (Record; Games Back)
↵- ↵
- San Antonio Spurs (33-10; --) ↵
- Los Angeles Lakers (32-13; 6) ↵
- New Orleans Hornets (20-16; 8.5) ↵
- Oklahoma City Thunder (28-16; 9.5) ↵
- Dallas Mavericks (28-15; 9) ↵
- Utah Jazz (25-17; 10.5) ↵
- Denver Nuggets (25-18; 12) ↵
- Portland Trailblazers (25-21; 13.5) ↵
- Memphis Grizzlies (22-23; 16) ↵
- Phoenix Suns (20-23; 17) ↵
- Houston Rockets (21-25; 17.5) ↵
Check out the full NBA Power Rankings for this week here. And for more Rockets analysis and fan discussion, head on over to The Dream Shake.
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