SR – NBA Bubble Breakdowns: #6 Houston Rockets

At #6 on our SneakerReporter Bubble Breakdown is the #6 seed in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have had quite the handful of Playoff runs in years past as they hope to perhaps get even deeper into the Playoffs again this year coming into the Restart. Perennial All-Star and starting Point Guard for the Rockets Russell Westbrook had tested positive for the Corona Virus right before the team was set to leave for Orlando, delaying the process of his return to the floor. Westbrook has since then been cleared and currently resides with the rest of the team in Orlando, participating in practices and scrimmages and is on schedule to be playing with them going into the Restart.

With only one player on the Rockets roster opting out of the NBA Bubble being Rockets SG/SF Thabo Sefolosha due to the overall concern of the Corona Virus, the Rockets still have the depth to be able to compete at a high level. Taking Sefolosha’s place is Veteran Forward Luc Mbah a Moute, a solid replacement to Sefolosha’s defensive prowess. Prior to the NBA hiatus, the Rockets decided to optimize their roster to play solely small ball, and were constantly receiving heavy backlash for their play when they lost. The Rockets’ situation is an interesting one, for if they show out during the NBA restart, other organizations may look at the Houston Rockets and may consider following their footsteps removing the traditional big men from their respective teams. Despite the hype that may be surrounding this team, the question bares if other players that aren’t your two of the Superstar backcourt of Westbrook and Harden will step up and be able to contribute to the team on a consistent basis.

Despite having a decent seeding in the Western Conference, I personally think that the Rockets are quite a dark horse in this Playoff race. Admittedly, I have my biases towards having solid big men on teams which leaves me as I’m sure as it leaves many of us skeptical about how the Rockets will fare against other teams with big name PFs and Cs such as Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis. Having said that however, I also believe that if anyone is going to prove the skeptics wrong, it’s Russell Westbrook. We all know Westbrook to be the type of player to do pretty much anything to win with his “Why Not?” mentality, and having the epitome of an offensive threat in James Harden at his side, as well as the many other options that this team has to score, I’m not fully willing to say that this team can’t get far.

Rockets’ Season In Review (40-24, 6th in West)

As discussed earlier, the Rockets made the call to gear the team towards small ball, allowing Russell Westbrook to be able to play his Mid-Range Slashing game he plays so well when he has the ball in his hands. This also allows many catch and shoot opportunities for players like Eric Gordon, Austin Rivers, and Robert Covington. We’ve yet to discuss the Beard himself however, James Harden. This is because, unless something were to go terribly wrong, basketball fans know James Harden is going to score, without question. This ultimately had them at 2nd for Offensive Rating, 10th in FT%, and 23rd for 3-PT%, mostly due to the fact that the Rockets lead the league in 3-PT attempts with an average of 44.2 a game.

The Rockets have become the newest face of Dan Patrick’s famous quote saying, “live by the three or die by the three”. Prior to the hiatus, the team was 2nd in the league for % of points scored from 3-pointers all the while being dead last for % of points from 2-pointers. Granted a solid amount of points the Rockets score are also from the Fastbreak averaging 14.7pts and from having 17.3% of their points from the free throw line.

Looking Into the Bubble:

The team is going to need to be working much harder going into the Restart without no real go-to rebounder. They’ll definitively be relying on shutting down opposing guards and using their pace-and-space offensive scheme to disrupt opposing defenses. Looking ahead, the Rockets have quite the schedule ahead of them going into the restart, facing names like Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and LeBron James in just their first four games. Although at this point the Rockets are merely fighting for Playoff positioning over the course of the restart, it’ll be no easy feat for Westbrook, Harden, and co. The ultimate question is how far can the Rockets take off heading into the NBA Playoffs?