The Houston Rockets were in a storm of uncertainty at the beginning of the season. They thought they had acquired Pau Gasol in a cap-clearing move that would have sent Kevin Martin and Luis Scola to New Orleans. When the trade was rescinded, everyone seemed joyous that the Lakers did not get Chris Paul and disgusted that the Hornets did not get the deal they worked on.
Did anyone mention the Rockets in this equation?
After a brief hangover from that failed deal, the Rockets seem to be back with a vengeance. They won seven games in a row before Wednesday’s loss to the Bucks and sit at 10-8, squarely in the Playoff hunt.
That always seems to be where the Rockets are — good enough to fight for a playoff spot, not good enough to make it or go deep in it. The hope though is with a batch of exciting young players and the development of Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin into all stars (or at least all star candidates) the Rockets will not only return to the Playoffs but maybe do a little more.
At the very least, the Rockets seem ahead of schedule as general manager Daryl Morey told Jason Friedman of Rockets.com:
“I think we’re maybe feeling a little bit better about things than we were when the season started in terms of some of the positives we talked about like Lowry taking a step forward, Chandler Parsons’ play, etc. Though, to be frank, Chander has outplayed someone who gave us very solid minutes a year ago in Chase [Budinger] so that’s not as big of an upgrade as maybe it seems at first. And then there’s Sam [Dalembert]. I think Dalembert’s solid play and Lowry’s solid play are the two big factors that make us look at things differently.
“But I think it frankly shifts us from being a team that a bunch of NBA experts out there might expect to miss the playoffs to now being a team that has improved our chances to make the playoffs, but I don’t think it puts us in where we’re battling Oklahoma City – I think we need one more step forward from someone on our roster to be at that point.”
Even if the Rockets do not get into the upper reaches of the Western Conference this year, getting back to the playoffs would be quite a step forward for this franchise. Especially considering the lift they have gotten from of those players Morey mentioned.
Chandler Parsons, a second round pick from last year, has taken over a spot in the starting lineup and is averaging 7.3 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game with a few highlights intermixed. It has enabled the Rockets to be a pretty deep team and move from 2-6 to 10-8, winning eight of the past 10 games.
No player has made the leap forward like Kyle Lowry though. Lowry is quietly making an All-Star push with a solid 15.9 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game and 8.8 assists per game. Those are all career highs and his PER is better than 20.0 for the first time in his career. Lowry is pushing for more notoriety and showing that the Rockets might have been right to bring in Gasol and turn the offense over to Lowry in that trade early in the season.
Morey said Lowry is playing at an All-Star level:
“Yeah, he’s playing at that [All-Star] level. I don’t really care if he’s picked. I hope he gets picked – I’ve made a bunch of votes myself for the team and for Kyle – but he’s playing at that level. Obviously the NBA is not really about play, it’s about consistency, and the fact we’re 17 games in and he’s been very consistent even as defenses have gotten more intense and are loading up on him, that’s a really good sign. We’ve had a lot of positive developments; that might be No. 1 on the list. Kyle really has taken a step forward, even after his step forward last year.”
The big difference in this win streak for the Rockets is Kevin Martin becoming a quiet All-Star candidate. He is averaging 29.3 points per game in the last four games and 22.9 points per game in the last 10 games. He has scored at least 10 points in every game except Houston’s season opener against Orlando.
The Rockets do not need Martin to be the superstar every night. What has made the Rockets pretty good is that Lowry can come up with a big game as often as Martin or Scola. Houston is a balanced team with a lot of strong role players.
The question is can the team weather the storm of the next difficult stretch in the schedule? That is something Morey worries about. But that is path to cross when they get there. Right now, the Rockets are winning and defying all expectations.
