The Houston Rockets have been struggling of late.
While they did defeat the Denver Nuggets by a score of 121-105 on Wednesday night, the Rockets had lost four games in a row prior to that win, with two of the losses coming by double figures.
Houston is a rock-solid 27-16 on the season, but it's hard to ignore how inconsistent the club has been throughout most of the year after entering the season with expectations of title contention.
Russell Westbrook is trying to put a stop to that.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Westbrook has been making sure to deliver a strong message to his teammates in practices, pregames and postgames that everyone needs to stick together, be committed and not have any personal agendas.
Westbrook also led a team meeting following a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 15.
The Rockets acquired Westbrook in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder over the summer, sending Chris Paul to the Thunder in exchange.
Many viewed it as a strange move at the time, as the idea of Westbrook and James Harden sharing the same backcourt certainly seemed peculiar. From a personality standpoint, however, there was widely-reported tension between Paul and Harden, and Westbrook and Harden have been friends for years dating back to their days with Oklahoma City.
The results have been rather mixed thus far, as Houston has had stretches of dominance as well as head-scratching moments throughout the 2019-20 campaign.
Of course, the Rockets' inconsistencies cannot merely be boiled down to the Westbrook-Harden pairing, as Houston does lack the overall firepower that some of the other top teams in the NBA have, but the Rockets' success definitely starts with how well Westbrook and Harden play.
Houston will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday evening.
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