Down the final stretch of the NBA season, the Houston Rockets caught lightning in a bottle. Currently, the Rockets are on the verge of a ten-game winning streak for the first time since the 2017-2018 season. To add icing on the cake, the Rockets came back down seven games in the Western Conference standings to a single game behind the final play-in spot with eleven games left to go this season.
They'll have to face a top two seed Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night in order to extend their winning ways. Facing a 50-21 record team is a challenging matchup to say the least. With a high chance of snapping Houston's streak, the Thunder just received an unfortunate injury report regarding their franchise star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
A huge break for the Rockets
SGA is listed as out for Wednesday night's matchup with a quad injury. A top three scorer in the league, The 25-year-old is effectively competing with the likes of Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic for the MVP award. With 30.4 points per game on 54% shooting, This bodes huge for the Rockets, as they'll have one less problem to deal with when playing the young and mighty OKC squad.
The Rockets are still without several players of their own, such as Cam Whitmore and Tari Eason. More importantly, their own leading scorer, Alperen Sengun. To most people's surprise, they've been riding high on this win streak even with this lack of depth to their roster. Jalen Green has taken over the reins of this ball club and is embracing full Mamba mode, playing the best brand of basketball of his career.
In March, Green's averages include 27.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on a near 50% shooting and 41% from deep. Jock Landale out of nowhere, is also finding late success down the stretch.
Watch out for Holmgren
Aside from a loss early in the season against the Golden State Warriors, OKC hasn't played a single game without their leading scorer. Even so, the Thunder are still no slouch. Houston will have to deal with Rookie of the Year candidate Chet Holmgren.
Holmgren is having a fantastic season, averaging 16.9 points and eight rebounds on 54.8% shooting and 38% from three-point range. Given his 7'1 build, the 20-year-old is also tied for third in the league in blocks per game.
In three games against Houston, Holmgren averages 17 points, 8.7 rebounds, and four blocks.
Jalen Williams, their second leading scorer, will likely take the bulk of the scoring with Josh Giddey sliding to point guard and Casan Wallace replacing SGA's spot. Williams is having a breakout year, averaging 19.3 points on 54% shooting and an incredible 44.2% from deep. Luguentz Dort, a familiar face for Rockets fans dating back to the 2020 bubble playoffs, is their top perimeter defender.
You can bet Jalen Green is on his radar. Back when James Harden dawned a Rockets uniform, Dort gave him fits on defense throughout the entire first-round playoff matchup.
Will Rockets small-ball work here?
The Rockets have caught multiple breaks during their winning streak regarding rather easy opposing center matchups. Most of their opponents had big men not play or perform well at all. Therefore, playing small-ball was a key factor in most of these wins. Using Amen Thompson or Jeff Green as undersized bigs increased pace and more scoring chances for Houston's guards on the perimeter.
Unfortunately, Holmgren is a different animal. It'll take a lot more of Amen Thompson, Jeff Green, and Jock Landale to use most of their minutes guarding him.
Slowing Holmgren down is a top priority for the Rockets to extend their winning streak. Prior to this upcoming matchup, Houston is 1-2 against OKC this season, with the lone win being due to Holmgren posing nearly empty stats on the offensive end. On paper, it's nearly impossible. But winning nine straight games has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Within this rather “March Madness” of a month, they've had the best record in the NBA and are tied for fifth in defensive rating. They've got a prime opportunity to spoil the playoff chances of two aging rosters in the Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. At this rate, anything's possible.
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