Houston Has Already Overcome Multiple Obstacles From Last Season

The Houston Rockets had some eye-opening performances in their first couple of weeks in this new NBA season. Following a blowout against the Dallas Mavericks to start things off, they had a much more daunting matchup in Austin soon after. Facing the San Antonio Spurs gave Ime Udoka and his squad the opportunity to prove that they’re serious contenders.

As discussed here on Roundtable, the Rockets only got one win against each of the top teams in the Western Conference last season. They were able to walk away with a last-second win thanks to Amen Thompson’s heroics, and by just their second game, Houston already had the same number of wins against the Spurs as they did all of last season.

The Rockets headed to play against the Atlanta Hawks with two more tasks to tackle. As covered on Roundtable, this team wasn’t able to win both games of a back-to-back until after All-Star Weekend. They also couldn’t win games on the road with enough consistency to be viewed as a contender. 

I’ve had my fair share of worries when it comes to back-to-backs this season, even suggesting that the Rockets might struggle early on this year. I’m quite glad to say that I was wrong about that, but we can’t overreact to a hot start just yet. 

After all, it did take a fourth-quarter explosion from Reed Sheppard to sneak away with a win in the first Atlanta game, as covered on Roundtable. They managed to almost throw the game away in the last minutes, but a win is a win nonetheless. 

While I still think that Bogdan Bogdanović could steal Reed Sheppard’s minutes throughout this season, it was huge for the youngster to get in and impact that game. I hope to see him contribute much more this year, but thankfully there’s been plenty of reinforcements in his absences. 

Marcus Smart missed some games too, and unfortunately wasn’t able to help the team stay undefeated in his return. However, he did have a major impact in his first start of the season, as covered on Roundtable. 

That also gave Houston their first win against the OKC Thunder, already matching their success rate from last year. In all fairness, it’s not the same contender-level team as before, considering three out of their four all-stars were injured. Still, a win is a win and they’re all needed.

They’re righting their wrongs from the previous year and showing that they’re an improved team. From the veteran additions to the young core's growth, this is not the same group from last season. Next, they'll have to take care of the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight, which again, would tie Houston's win total from last year's three-game series.