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Following a pair of losses over the weekend, the Houston Rockets dropped down two spots to No. 17 overall in the latest SB Nation NBA power rankings.
Unable to get the better of an experienced Los Angeles Lakers team on Sunday night on the road, the Rockets have now fallen short in six of their last eight games after starting the season off with a 2-0 record. All six of Houston's losses have come against opponents listed in the top 14 in this week's power rankings, but two of its victories come against a hapless Detroit Pistons team.
The Rockets remain the highest-ranked team sporting a record below .500 however, and will coincidentally square off with the Utah Jazz, the No. 18 team, on Monday night from EnergySolutions Arena. Although a slew of home games will await the Rockets after returning home from Salt Lake City, tricky upcoming opponents like Chicago and New York will make it quite difficult for the Rockets to work their way back up in the West.