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Not to be lost amid the hoopla surrounding the Houston Rockets' new backcourt of Jeremy Lin and James Harden is the lingering question on many NBA fans' minds: is this team actually any good?
Eight games into the 2012-13 season, the jury is still out, and the Rockets are a .500 team at 4-4. Right now, that's tied for seventh best in the Western Conference and fourth place in the Southwest Division.
In the Western Conference, typically .500 or worse isn't enough to make the eight-team playoff field, so the Rockets certainly hope to gel as a unit as the season goes along and improve upon their current (albeit early) pace. A playoff berth for the first time since the 2008-09 season would go a long way in assuring fans the team's latest roster overhaul wasn't in vain.
Here's a look at the current Western Conference and Southwest Division standings: