Will Houston make the playoffs?

[Alex_De_Large]

Lakers and Nuggets would probably be a top4 team in the EAST, but in the west are no locks, actually i think they will miss the playoffs, camby will get injured and carmelo/iverson are ball hogs useless to make some success together.

no chance for: blazers, i know it's hard to understand, but they are there cause of the 13 wins in a row, they were great, but.... at this point, and with the rockets healthy (tmac), someone thinks the blazers are superior to the rockets? i can't see blazers a much better team than the sonics or the wolves actually.

suns, hornets, mavericks, 4-jazz(division champions), 5-rockets, REVENGE TIME.

[KF10]

Kings are now 20-24

[TMACFORMVP]

It'll be tough, considering how stacked the Western Conference is, but health is the main issue here. We've played well recently, winning 10 of our last 13 and a relatively easier schedule coming up with McGrady coming back so the odds look pretty good especially with Portland slipping at the moment, but the team is just so inconsistent and McGrady's fragile body being able to go down at any time, we'd need a lot of luck on our side.

[mistatwo mayn]

Kings are now 20-24

(picture)

Take that to the Hockey board

Tmac needs to stop playing like a broken tampon.

Side note: they really need to get rid of the division thing... at the most, gurantee that one team from each conference makes the PO. It's B.S.

Warriors gaining Webber = adding a big man in a rotation that has none.

[wilt]

They are 10-3 in January , so they are playing pretty well even with McGrady in and out of the lineup. Main reason is that Yao has been playing extremely poised and the younger players have gotten a confidence-infusion . Heck, they even won a game with Novak playing 15 minutes of like the worst defense ever witnessed ...
Interesting fact : Houston has been playing as good on the road than they have at home, which means they need to step it up at home.

They definitely need to make ground in February. They have a pretty easy-looking schedule with a road trip Indiana, Milwaukee, Minnesota. Basically every game very winnable with the possible exception playing at New Orleans in a back-to-back (but even that, NO lost 8 at home allready).

March on the other hand ... All 3 back-to-back games on the road (NO, Phoenix after playing at GS, Dallas) , 9 of the other Top11 western teams.
btw : Since McGrady got there, they are 116-61 when both play, that

[TheKingOfVa360]

It's time to break up that Ming and McGrady combo it isn't working. Ming needs a good pg to get him the ball. And T-Pain aka Tracy McLady is soft and not the right player for that team.

[NetsForce]

I doubt the Rockets can get anything good for T-Lack, so they might as well keep him but convince him to stop shooting so much.

[Teckon]

Rockets are at 10th spots with a 25-20 records. Just 1 game off 9th and 2 game off 7th, 3 game off 5th.

As of today, Rockets had the 2nd toughest schedule based on ESPN Strength of Schedule rating. Of the 45 games they played so far, 28 were against Top 16 teams in the league. That is only 17 games against the bottom half so far. Which mean their remaining schedule will be the weakest among the teams fighting for 4th-8th PO spots.

Of the 28 game against Top 16 team, they won 13 and lost 15. Against the weaker teams, they have won 12 and lost 5. With more games vs weaker teams in the remaining schedule, it seem to me Rockets have a pretty good proability to win 60% of their remaining games - meaning the rockets projected number of wins are around 47-48 wins which probably good enought to be 7th or 8th seed.

By the way, Hollinger's latest projection put Rockets to be the 8th seed with 47 wins edging out Blazers and Nuggets.

[Baller 24]

The Rockets have a 161-60 record with Tmac and Yao playing. They are one of the best 2nd half teams in the league, and have shown that last couple of seasons. After ending the 2005 year off with a 15-15 record they ended the season HOT with a 51-31 record. 2006 season was setback by injuries, 2007, Tracy McGrady half of the season single handedly lead them to the playoffs, including a 20-12 record without Yao. We ended the season off with the 4th seed and a 52-30 record. I wouldn't count this team out at all. The haters will always hate McGrady, and or Yao. But I think we ultimately will make the playoffs, its going to be interesting because we are creeping up the standings and on the win column and getting close. I think there should be "some small" trades the Rockets should make. The thing about all this is, if Yao and Tmac are both not healthy and playing together, then no they will not make the playoffs, but they both have to be on the court together, again 161-60 record is very impressive.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

the more i think about it, the more i think Denver and Portland will be the teams out.

i had GS and Portland out, but Golden State have impressed me with what theyve done on the road.

Denver on the other hand is worst offensively than i thought...Iverson is really carrying that team.