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2012 NBA Playoffs: How The Houston Rockets Can Still Make The Postseason

The Houston Rockets' latest loss - a 117-110 win by the Mavericks, Dallas' seventh in a row over Houston - doesn't officially eliminate the Rockets from the NBA Playoffs, but the road to the postseason has become quite daunting.

At 32-30 overall, the Rockets are tied with Phoenix, and both teams are a half game behind Utah. The Jazz own the tiebreaker over the Suns, but the Suns own the tiebreaker over Houston, as does Utah if the Jazz and Rockets finish tied.


Western Standings

GP W-L PCT
San Antonio Spurs 61 45-16 .738
Oklahoma City Thunder 62 45-17 .726
Los Angeles Lakers 63 40-23 .635
Los Angeles Clippers 62 39-23 .629
Memphis Grizzlies 62 37-25 .597
Dallas Mavericks 63 35-28 .556
Denver Nuggets 62 34-28 .548
Utah Jazz 63 33-30 .524
Phoenix Suns 62 32-30 .516
Houston Rockets 62 32-30 .516
Portland Trail Blazers 63 28-35 .444
Minnesota Timberwolves 63 25-38 .397
Golden State Warriors 61 22-39 .361
Sacramento Kings 62 20-42 .323
New Orleans Hornets 62 19-43 .306

The best scenario for Houston?

  • The Rockets must win out in their final four games. With a home and away against lowly New Orleans and a home game versus Golden State, that's do-able, but Houston also has to go to Miami, where the Heat have the league's best home record
  • The Jazz and Suns need to each lose one game. The two teams play each other in Salt Lake City, so that ensures at least one club will lose a game. If the Suns are able to win that game, they could easily lose one of their remaining contests against the Nuggets, Clippers or Spurs.

For more on the Houston Rockets, check out The Dream Shake. For all your NBA news, go to SB Nation's NBA page.

Images by eflon used in background images under a Creative Commons license. Thank you.