The Rockets pulled away with one of their biggest victories of the season on Friday night, knocking off the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons, 111-104, coming from behind in the second half. Kevin Durant led the way with 32 points and backup guard Reed Sheppard came off the bench for 18 points, including ten in the third quarter when Houston took control of the game. The win was particularly impressive because it came on the second night of a back to back. The Rockets went 3-1 on the week, beating the New Orleans Pelicans, 119-110, and San Antonio Spurs, 111-106. On Thursday night, they fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime, 128-122, in a game in which they held the lead in the third quarter.
On slate this upcoming week after taking the weekend off, the Rockets will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and the San Antonio Spurs, in a rematch, on Wednesday. They will travel to Atlanta on Thursday to play the Hawks and host the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. The week will be a prime opportunity to gain some ground in the standings as the Grizzlies are just 18-25 and the Mavericks are 19-27. Memphis is playing without guard Ja Morant who is out with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and will miss at least three weeks.
The Rockets are now 27-16, having gone just 5-5 in their last ten games. They are fourth in the Western conference, and looking up ahead of them at the San Antonio Spurs, at 31-14, and the Denver Nuggets, at 31-15. If the playoffs started today, Houston would open against the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers who are 27-17 and half a game back of the Rockets. The winner of that series would draw the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. Thus, it is imperative for Houston’s postseason goals to secure either the second or third seed to avoid the Thunder for as long as possible.
Houston has now fallen to fourth in the league in net rating at +6.2 after being second all season to the Thunder. They are now fourth in offensive rating at 118.7 and eighth in defensive rating at 112.5. However, they are still first in the league in offensive rating at 40.5% despite having lost Steven Adams to injury. That number could dip in the coming weeks due to Adams’ absence.