Subscribe
Follow Us
The Houston Rockets have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2024-25 NBA season so far, jumping out to a 17-8 record which is tied for the second best mark in the Western Conference. The Rockets have also been very impressive in NBA Cup play and will play in Saturday's semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Rockets picked up a very impressive, but controversial, win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals to earn a trip to Las Vegas over the weekend. The semifinal matchup against the Thunder will pit the two best teams in the Western Conference so far this season against each other.
Before the Rockets and Thunder face off, Rockets guard Jalen Green spoke about what makes this Houston team special and different from some of the less successful ones that he has played on during his young career.
“I would say how we all interact with each other,” Green said. “It's more so a family, not a group. The way we handle losses, the way we handle wins, the way we communicate on the court is very different from when I was first here. Not discrediting those people, but it's a different level of winning basketball.”
Green has struggled with consistency this season, but he still leads the Rockets in scoring at 19.2 points per game.
Rockets have the team to take down Thunder in NBA Cup
The Thunder enter the final four at the NBA Cup as pretty heavy favorites to take home the trophy, and they have backed up that notion time and time again this season. Even after Chet Holmgren went down with a serious hip injury, Oklahoma City has been nearly unstoppable.
They were boosted even more when backup center Isaiah Hartenstein returned from injury to give the Thunder at least one quality big man while Holmgren is out. They answered the bell in Tuesday night's NBA Cup quarterfinal against the Dallas Mavericks, handily defeating Luka Doncic and company 118-104.
Despite all of that, the underdog Rockets have the type of team that can bother the Thunder and maybe pick up a big upset on Saturday night. The Rockets have one of the best defenses in the league and can match the Thunder with a number of big, long bodies out on the wing. Dillon Brooks, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson and others are all problems defensively and they give the Rockets multiple bodies to throw at Shai Gelgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
Just ask the Warriors about the Rockets' defense after Houston held Golden state to just 90 points and forced them into one of the most physical, difficult games of the season on the offensive end. Oklahoma City has more pop than the Warriors offensively and can put the ball in the basket in a variety of different ways, but the Rockets have the bodies to slow them down. If they can, Houston could find itself in the NBA Cup Championship Game on Tuesday night.
